All I Want For Christmas
by NaruDeeds
Summary: Ever since Naruto brought Sasuke back he has completely avoided Sakura.  Two years later during the Christmas season, will Naruto and Sakura get what they really want for Christmas?  A three-part NaruSaku Christmas story!
1. December 23

Welcome to the first part of my three part NaruSaku Christmas story! Part 2 will be out on the 24th, and part 3 will be out on Christmas! Enjoy!

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would ride Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer into battle against the abominable snowman, and use his gift to turn the snowman into a good guy (even though the snowman becomes a good guy on his own anyways...)

Anywho... Please do enjoy "All I Want For Christmas" Chapter 1- December 23

* * *

Snow was falling in Konoha as a 20-year old Naruto Uzumaki walked through his village. It was December 23rd, only two more days until Christmas. Naruto had grown to become a handsome man. Standing at 6'1, he was tall, but not the tallest. Years of exhaustive training finely toned his muscles so that they stood out, but weren't unnaturally large.

His eyes were a shining sapphire blue, and his hair long and spiky; it looked exactly like his father's. As a matter of fact, he had lost count of how many times a villager walked up to him to tell him he was a mirror image of his father, except with whiskers.

Three years had passed since Naruto defeated Madara and save the world, and two years since he finally convinced Sasuke to return to Konoha.

_Two years… It's only been two years since I've talked to Sakura-chan… It seems like so much longer… _The day that Sasuke walked through the gates of Konoha had been the last day he had talked to his pink-haired teammate. He hated not seeing her and talking to her every day, but he had no choice. Naruto could not watch her be with Sasuke, it would just hurt too much.

The blonde had not said a word to Sasuke since he returned to Konoha either. He didn't ask his friends about either of the two, and no longer went on missions with Team 7. As far as he knew, Sakura and Sasuke were happily married with tons of little Uchiha children running around.

Naruto really had not gone on many missions at all in the past two years. He spent most of his time with Tsunade, learning the inner nuances of how the village works. Under Tsunade's tutelage, Naruto had learned much in the ways of politics and as a result was able to keep his loud outbreaks to a minimum.

Tsunade said that she was getting sick of the job, and told him she was going to step down soon and name him the sixth Hokage. Naruto smiled at the thought, he was so close to achieving his dream. He was so close to backing up the words of a brash, loud little boy craving attention.

Truth be told, even though Naruto no longer talked to Sakura and Sasuke, he still had a good life. He had great friends, the villagers loved him, and his name was respected all across the land. As he passed the academy, he couldn't help but stop and stare at the familiar swing he used to sadly sit on as a child.

When he was younger, the Christmas season was his second least favorite time of the year, the only time he disliked more was his birthday. Christmas for a young Naruto always reminded the boy that he was alone. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, usually made sure to stop by and visit Naruto sometime during the Christmas season, but as Hokage, he was too busy to visit often.

For young Naruto, the Christmas season was one when he had to watch as families came together, gave each other gifts, and enjoy each others' love and warmth. Naruto spent his Christmas season huddled in his tiny apartment, eating bowls of instant ramen, while trying desperately to distract himself from his loneliness.

As Naruto got older, he fought and fought for recognition. And slowly but surely people began accepting him. Naruto would never forget when Iruka first found out about Naruto's typical Christmas plans…

_FLASHBACK_

_12-year old Naruto and Iruka sat in Ichiraku's eating ramen together. It was Naruto's first Christmas as a gennin and the two were chatting about random things._

"_So Naruto, what are you going to do for Christmas now that you're a genin?" Iruka asked peering down at the small blonde boy. He was caught off guard as the blonde's normally cheery face was tugged slightly downwards in a small frown._

"_Probably the same thing I do every year Iruka-sensei. Eat some instant ramen, watch some TV and go to bed." The young genin replied in a sad voice._

"_What? Naruto that's no way to spend Christmas!"_

_The small blonde put a fake smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head. "It's not that bad Iruka-sensei. Any night spent with ramen is a good night!" he said in an overly bright tone of voice._

"_That's no way for a kid to spend Christmas. You're coming over to my place for a real Christmas dinner."_

"_Iruka-sensei… I don't want to intrude…"_

"_Nonsense, you won't be intruding. It will be nice to have you, and besides, I need to give you your present anyways." Naruto fixed Iruka with a stunned glance. _

"_You got me… a present?" the startled gennin sputtered._

"_Of course I did! It's Christmas, that's what people do on Christmas. Buy gifts for the people they care about!"_

_Tears fell down Naruto's face as he hugged his sensei. "Arigato sensei."_

_FLASH IN_

Naruto smiled at the memory. That was the first Christmas Naruto had enjoyed. Iruka had actually prepared a full meal, with ham, mashed potatoes, corn, deviled eggs, apple pie, and of course… ramen. His former teacher had given him his very first Christmas present, well presents.

Naruto received a bright orange fleece blanket with the kanji for "Uzumaki" woven in, a blanket he still treasured to this day. He also received free ramen coupons, and a lot of them. His sensei knew him well.

Naruto chuckled, as he walked into a toy store.

"Naruto-sama, welcome!" the store owner called out. "I like your new outfit!"

"Hehe, thanks. It's a bit more festive than my usual one." Naruto was clad in a jumpsuit that looked like his traditional orange and black one, except it was red and white. He wore a white cloak, with red flames like his father's famous cloak, except instead of the kanji for Namikaze, it had the kanji for Uzumaki. Naruto refused to take his family name until after he had become Hokage, he wanted to achieve his dream as an Uzumaki. As an Uzumaki who had started his life hated and shunned by his village. He topped off his outfit with a santa hat, which his long spiky blonde hair leaked out from underneath.

"I agree Naruto-sama! So what brings you hear today?" Naruto smiled and unsealed a large red satin sack. He dumped the sacks contents onto the shopkeeper's table, and little papers fell out.

"Ah I see. It's hard to believe it's already that time of year again. It seems like just yesterday you were in here buying toys for all the children at the orphanage."

"Hehe, yea. Time sure does fly ne?" the blonde replied scratching the back of his hand. When Naruto started working directly with the Hokage two years ago, he began using his greatly increased salary to make sure that every orphan in Konoha got what present they wanted for Christmas. He remembered how horrible it felt not receive anything for Christmas, and now that Naruto could afford it, he was going to make sure no child ever had to experience what he did.

"As the shopkeeper rang everything up, Naruto pulled out his frog wallet. He slightly grimaced at the final price, 41,000 yen (about $490 US). _Toys get more and more expensive every year. _As the blonde pulled out his checkbook, the shopkeeper interrupted him.

"Please Naruto-sama, this is for a good cause. Don't worry about the price." This certainly caught Naruto off guard.

"Nani? That's 41,000 yen worth of toys. I can't let you do that, it's too much."

"Nonsense Naruto-sama, I've been thinking about this a lot since last year. What you're doing is a great thing, it's what Christmas is all about. From here on out, every year you decide to do this, the toys will be on me." The shopkeeper said with a warm smile on his face.

_It's hard to believe that 10 years ago this same shopkeeper would've kicked me out of his store._ Naruto smiled at the thought. This man was just another shining example of him achieving recognition and acceptance from the villagers of Konoha.

"No no, I can't do that. It's too much, and it's nothing I can't afford. Besides, Tsunade baa-chan said she's going to be making me Hokage soon." Even with his political training, Naruto still had not stopped caling Tsunade baa-chan, he just wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't.

"Fine, then how about a compromise? I'll sell you these toys at the price I pay for them, that way I'm not losing any money."

Naruto realized this was the best he was going to be get from the shopkeeper, so agreed to the deal. After punching in some numbers Naruto raised an eyebrow at the new price. 8,341 yen (roughly $100 USD).

"Are you sure that's right?"

The shopkeeper offered Naruto an innocent smile. "Of course Naruto-sama. You don't think I would lie to the future Hokage do you?"

"Uh huh…" Naruto sarcastically replied as he handed the shopkeeper a check. "Thanks."

"No problem Naruto-sama!" The shopkeeper and future hokage wrapped all of the toys, and addressed them to each orphan, before finally putting them all in Naruto's red satin bag. Just before Naruto walked out of the store, he stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder.

"And Teruchi-san?"

"Yes Naruto-sama?" the shopkeeper replied.

"Make sure you deposit that check. I'm going to check to make sure you do."

"I wouldn't DREAM of NOT depositing it Naruto-sama." Teruchi replied as he whistled innocently. Naruto just shook his head as he walked out of the store.

_Next stop, orphanage._

As Naruto was walking towards the orphanage, he caught a flash of pink hair.

_Crap…_

Just as emerald eyes caught site of sapphire, Naruto hirashined to his apartment.

"Whew…" Naruto sighed to no one in particular. "That was a close one. Ah well, my apartment is closer to the orphanage anyways." The blonde-haired jonin walked out of his apartment and locked the door. In five minutes he was standing before the doors of the orphanage.

Thanks to Tsunade, the Konoha orphanage had received increased funding and always had their own special Christmas day for the orphans. So Naruto decided he would deliver the orphan's toys on the 23rd. This way the orphans were happy to receive toys on the 23rd, happy to play with their new toys during the entire day of Christmas Eve, and got to have a nice dinner on Christmas.

As he walked into Orphanage little kids began crowding around him with excited shouts of "Naruto nii-chan!" Naruto smiled as he hugged all of the children and tossled some hair here and there.

"Who's ready for presents?" Naruto yelled out in a loud voice that was common to Naruto when he was younger.

The children all cheered, and Naruto began handing out presents, while telling them all not to open their presents yet. He liked to have the kids open their gifts in order from youngest to oldest. It made the present opening last longer, and the kids got too see what each of their friends got.

A true and gentle smile adorned his face as the kids one by one opened their presents. He looked out the window to see a couple of his friends standing outside, watching the scene inside with a smile. Well, Ino was, Shikamaru looked like he would rather be at home laying around.

"What do we say to Naruto nii-chan everyone?" the kind old woman who ran the orphanage asked the happy group.

"THANK YOU NARUTO NII-CHAN!" the grinning kids attempted to say in unison.

"Hahaha, you're welcome. Now go have some fun with your new toys!" Each kid hugged Naruto and thanked him personally before running off to play with their presents.

"Thank you again Naruto-sama." The old woman said with a smile.

"It's my pleasure, have a nice Christmas." The blonde replied before exiting to talk to his two friends.

"Hey Ino, Shikamaru! What brings you two here?"

"That's a very nice thing you did Naruto." A warmly smiling Ino responded.

"We were walking in the area and saw you, and this one," Shikamaru pointed at Ino, "Wanted to talk to you, so we stopped and waited for you, even if it was troublesome."

Ino smacked Shikamaru in the back of the head. "Oh shut up you scrooge! You can't tell me you're not happy you stopped and got to see that. It was so heart-warming!" she cooed.

"It was nice seeing the looks on those kids' faces I guess." The Nara genius mumbed.

"What did you want to talk to me about Ino?" Naruto questioned, although he had a bad feeling he knew what exactly it was.

"Sakura said she saw you today, but you used the hirashin to flash away the second you saw her." Ino said with a disappointed look on her face. When Naruto didn't reply, the Yamanaka put her hands on her hips and huffed, "Well?"

"I… wasn't careful enough I guess. Usually I can sense Sakura-chan's chakra well enough to avoid…"

"When the hell are you going to stop avoiding her Naruto, she…"

"I don't want to know Ino," Naruto replied. "Have a great first Christmas as an engaged couple." He winked before flashing back to his apartment.

Naruto treasured his friendship with Ino, but sometimes she just annoyed him so much. Ino made it her job to constantly try to talk to Naruto about Sakura. No matter how many times he tried to convey that he didn't want to know, no matter how many times he flashed away from her mid-sentence, the girl just didn't seem to get the point. He cringed as he heard a loud yell ringing through the streets.

" NARUTO!" _Crap…_ While Naruto had flashed away from Ino many occasions, the platinum blonde never seemed to get used to it, and the end result was a fuming Ino every time. Naruto had honestly lost count how many times he had been bashed upside the head by a seething platinum blonde.

Shaking those scary thoughts from his head, the blonde-haired jinchuriki again left his apartment, heading off to Ichiraku's. He had gone nearly 12 whole hours without ramen. To be honest, Naruto was fairly impressed with himself. Much to his pleasant surprise, both Iruka, and his wife of one year, Shizune, were sitting in the stand sipping on a glasses of water.

"Iruka-sensei, Shizune nee-chan! What are you doing here?" the smiling blonde boy questioned.

"Waiting for you of course Naruto." Iruka replied matching Naruto's smile with one of his own.

"Nani? I don't remember scheduling a ramen dinner with you two."

"Oh so you're scheduling now huh?" Iruka smirked. "How very hokage-like of you." Naruto blushed a little.

"I guess Baa-chan is rubbing off on me." Naruto laughed as he scratched the back of his hand.

"Please, Tsunade hates scheduling nearly as much as you do. I'M the one rubbing off on you Naruto-kun." Shizune said with an exasperated sigh. "You better not plan on having me be your assistant, I have a feeling you're going to be worse than Tsunade-sama."

This caused everyone in the stand to erupt in a roar of laughter. As everyone's laughter died down, Naruto peered at Iruka and Shizune.

"But seriously, how did you know that I was going to be here?"

Both Iruka and Shizune shot him a look that said, 'are you stupid?' as Teuchi replied.

"You've changed a lot since you were a boy Naruto, but one thing that hasn't changed is your love of ramen." The ramen-stand owner answered, smiling at his favorite customer.

"Yep. You only need to look one place for Naruto Uzumaki if it's around lunchtime in Konoha." Iruka said. "Now sit down so we can finally eat, Shizune was making me wait for you and I'm starving!"

Shizune whapped Iruka on the back of the head.

"Stop complaining, it's only polite and proper that we wait for everyone to arrive before we begin to eat. I don't want our baby girl to grow up with a father who has terrible manners!" she scolded as she patted her swollen belly.

"How's the pregnancy coming Shizune nee-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I can tell our little girl is getting restless to get out. She likes to kick a lot. She should be coming next month." Shizune replied, smiling softly at Iruka, who returned her soft smile, rubbing her back.

"That's great! Have you guys come up with a name yet?"

"Yea. You're going to be the uncle of Keiko Umino." Iruka said, soft smile still plastered firmly on his face.

"I can't wait to meet her!" Naruto said as he pumped his fist in the air.

Shizune smiled at him. "Neither can I, because that means I'll finally have her out of here. I'm tired of being so fat!"

"Now now honey, you're not fat. You look good for a pregnant women!" Iruka said, hoping to make his wife feel better about her appearance.

Teuchi smacked his head, remembering how Ayame's mother was when she was pregnant.

Shizune gave the well-meaning instructor a death glare. "FOR A PREGNANT WOMAN?" she growled dangerously.

Realizing his mistake Iruka tried to rectify the situation before his wife decided to use her excellent knowledge of poisons against him.

"Did I say for a pregnant woman? I meant for a beautiful goddess. Yea, you look good for a beautiful goddess is what I **meant** to say…"

"That's what I thought!" Shizune growled, before turning back to Naruto with a happy smile on her face.

"Soooo Naruto-kun, are you seeing anyone special yet?" All the men in the ramen shop sweat-dropped and unanimously thought, _pregnant women are crazy…_

Naruto sighed, Shizune always questioned Naruto on his love life. "No, not yet nee-chan."

Shizune let out a sigh of her own, "Why not? As a handsome future hokage like yourself must have a lot of beautiful ladies clamoring for the opportunity claim you."

Naruto blushed a little at the compliment, but a small frown found its way on his face.

"Well… I do have a lot of fan girls now, I think mine even outnumber Sasuke's back in the day," Naruto nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm flattered, but I'm not interested in any of them like that. I don't want to lead anyone on."

"Well if that's the case I don't see why you just don't go talk to Sakura! Really Naruto-kun, this is starting…"

"Shizune drop it. I don't want to hear it." Naruto forcibly interrupted.

"No Naruto, you need to stop…"

For the third time in the day, Naruto flashed away, back to his apartment. _Sorry Iruka-sensei, Shizune nee-chan, I can't take news about Sakura. _Naruto looked out his window at the village below. Even though he now had plenty of money, he had yet to move out of his old apartment. He didn't really see the point of moving into a bigger space when he just lived by himself, there was no need.

Naruto opened his window, climbed out of it, and shut it again before dropping down to the street. He really didn't feel like re-locking his apartment yet again. Naruto calmly strode through the village and eventually stopped when he reached the top of the Hokage monument.

He was standing on his father's head, looking out at the village as the snow fell. _Konoha really looks beautiful in the snow._ Thought the blonde as he took a seat.

"It sure is beautiful up here." A lazy voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts.

"Shikamaru… you here alone?" Naruto asked with a cautious voice.

"Yea, I managed to get away from Ino. She's really pissed at you this time though Naruto, I know you've survived the likes of Pain and Madara, but they're nothing compared to Ino when in the state she's currently in. I'm not going to say much more than this, so don't go flashing away, but Sakura is her best friend and it frustrates Ino to no end to see you avoiding her."

Naruto nodded at his friend. "So is that the reason you came up here?"

"No, that was simply a friendly warning, so you can survive long enough to become the next hokage. I came here to see if you were coming to the Christmas party tomorrow night? Everyone's going to be there, the Rookie 9, Team Guy, Sai…"

"…And Sakura and Sasuke right?" Naruto interrupted.

"Yea, but it's not like they're…"

"I'll see what I can do Shikamaru. But don't count on me being there."

"Naruto… this is getting troublesome. We want you to come, everyone wants you to come."

"It's not like I don't hang out with everyone Shikamaru."

"True, but you never come to gatherings where we all get together."

"You know why Shikamaru, please drop it."

"Tch, troublesome." The genius sighed as he turned to leave. He paused, and called over his shoulder. "I'm not giving you any information on those two, because I know you don't want it. But you should stop assuming the worst. You're not going to be truly happy if you keep on as you are."

"I'm happy Shikamaru. I have great friends, the village loves me, and I'm about to become the next hokage. Life couldn't be better." The blonde lied with a fake grin plastered on his face.

Shikamaru sighed again. "Troublesome." He muttered as he walked away.

Naruto tried to block out Shikamaru's words as he laid down and closed his eyes. He fell into a peaceful slumber as the snow blanketed the ground.

* * *

A pink-haired kunoichi stood on top of the Hokage Monument staring at the sleeping, shivering form of the future hokage.

"You're still as reckless as ever Naruto." She sighed. _Note to self- thank Ino for making Shikamaru tell me he's up here. The baka is going to get sick if he sleeps out here._

She peered down at her former teammate with a sad smile. It had been two long years since Sasuke returned and Naruto stopped talking to her and completely avoided her entirely. His cloak ruffled in the wind as the harsh gust of cold air blew over the mountaintop.

She laid a gentle hand on his forehead. "Baka… you're burning up." She muttered softly as a green glow enveloped her hand. Once she was pleased with her work she gently picked Naruto up. A silent chuckle escaped her lips as she realized the irony of the situation. Here she was carrying Naruto bridal style, it was supposed to be the other way around.

Pushing chakra into her legs Sakura hurried to Naruto's apartment, wanting to get him out of the cold as soon as possible. As she sped through the village, the soft smiles that adorned the villagers' faces at the sight of her carrying their hero did not escape her notice, causing her to blush.

Arriving at his door, she fished around in his pockets until she found his key, and unlocked the door. She walked up the stairs into his apartment.

_I can't believe he still stays here._ The kunoichi thought as she walked towards his bedroom. Sakura begrudgingly put Naruto in his bed, tucking him in. She would've rather held him in her arms a little while longer, or better yet, climb into bed and curl up with him.

But Sakura knew that wouldn't end well. She knew from her friends that Naruto went to great pains to avoid her, and avoid any information about her altogether. She was reminded of this today when she saw Naruto in town. It had been the first time in two years that she had actually seen him, and she hoped that she would be able to at least say hi. But as soon as he spotted her, the sage flashed away.

She sighed as she sat down by him, stroking his hair. _If only you would stop being such a stubborn baka Naruto…_

She would never forget the day that Naruto brought Sasuke back...

_FLASHBACK_

_Sakura rushed to the main gates of Konoha, Naruto sent a messenger toad to her saying that he had finally managed to convince Sasuke to come back to Konoha and he and Sasuke would be back soon. Today was the day. Sakura was so excited. Naruto had finally fulfilled that stupid promise she made him make all those years ago. She no longer needed to worry about him going and getting himself killed because of her 12-year-old self. _

_Her face lit up with a huge smile as she saw two familiar figures walk through the gate. _

"_Sasuke!" she yelled happily running forward and wrapping her old teammate up in a hug._

"_Hello Sakura." The Uchiha quietly responded._

"_Naruto thank you… Naruto?" Sakura asked as she looked around for her teammate who had never left her. A frown adorned her face as she realized Naruto had disappeared. "Where did he go?"_

"_He seemed pretty drained our entire walk here. I think our fight took a lot out of him. He probably just went home before he passed out in the street." Frown still on her face, Sakura nodded._

"_He could have at least waited for me to thank him! I'm going to go to his apartment to say thanks and check up on him." The pink-haired kunoichi said as she started walking towards Nartuo's apartment._

"_Don't you think you should let the dobe sleep? I've never seen Naruto as drained as he was on our way back here. Other than being drained, he's fine."_

_Sakura sighed, "I guess. Want me to walk with you to the Hokage's office? You're going to need to see her to be reinstated as a Konoha shinobi."_

_Sasuke simply gave an affirmative grunt as the two old teammates walked towards towards the Hokage Tower._

_

* * *

_

_It had been two weeks since Naruto brought Sasuke back to Konoha, and much to Sakura's despair, she hadn't seen Naruto once since then. For the first few days, Sakura wrote it off as Naruto needing rest. But the more days passed, the more she began to wonder if he was avoiding her. She couldn't believe that Naruto would avoid her, the blonde had been crazy about her his entire life. And since she realized just how much he meant to her, she hadn't treated him poorly in years. _

_As Sakura walked towards Team 7's training grounds, she was filled with excitement. Today would be the first day that all of Team 7 is reunited since so long apart. More importantly, Sakura would get to see Naruto today. There's no way that the whiskered man would skip out on a training session._

_Sakura arrived at the bridge first, and greeted Sasuke, Sai and Yamoto as they arrived. She was a little surprised that Naruto hadn't arrived yet, but knowing the baka he had probably overslept and was sprinting to the training grounds now. By the time Kakashi arrived, he was two hours late, which was late even for regular Kakashi time._

"_Sorry I'm late I just came from…" Kakashi began._

"_YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled, missing the other yell that usually accompanied her own._

"_Well… as I was explaining. I just came from the Hokage's office. Naruto has withdrawn from Team 7 so he can spend his time with the Tsunade-sama getting political training he is going to need when he takes over as the Rokudaime Hokage."_

"_WHAT?" Sakura yelled. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WITHDREW FROM TEAM 7? SASUKE'S FINALLY BACK. WE CAN FINALLY BE A FULL TEAM AGAIN!"_

"_I tried talking him out of Sakura, I even offered to train him in tact during missions, and Tsunade–sama offered to give him political training every night. But he refused because… and I quote… "I'm not going to be the greatest hokage ever if I don't learn how to act around Daimyo's and other village leaders!" Nothing Tsunade-sama said could convince him otherwise. You know how he gets when he sets his mind on something…"_

"_But… but… shishou should've refused him then! He needs to be here with us. We need him here on Team 7!"_

"_Sakura, try to understand. Naruto is going to be Tsunade's successor, as hokage, she cannot turn down her successor when he asks her for help. As hokage it is her job to ensure that he is fully prepared for the role." Kakashi attempted to reason._

"_Fully prepared? Everyone knows that Naruto is ready to be the hokage. He's already going to be the greatest hokage ever. Learning political stuff from Tsunade-shishou isn't going to help him any more!"_

"_You know that, I know that, and you're right, practically everyone else knows that. Everyone except Naruto. He's the son of the Yondaime, he has a lot to live up to." Yamato interjected._

"_Sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I'm not going to be able to train today. I'm going to Tsunade-shishou's office and knock some sense into that baka!"_

_Sakura stomped off, both angered and hurt that Naruto suddenly decided to leave Team 7. Today was supposed to be a happy day. Her team was supposed to be reunited and she was supposed to be seeing Naruto after two long weeks._

_Sakura didn't even bother knocking as she slammed the hokage's door open._

"_Sakura?" her master asked in a slightly confused and very annoyed tone._

"_Where is he."_

"_Where is who Sakura?"_

"_You know who, __**WHERE. IS. HE?**__" she ground out._

"_Naruto isn't here Sakura…" the hokage sighed._

"_Alright. Then tell me shishou, why did you agree to this? He would already make a great hokage, and he will still make a great hokage as a member of Team 7."_

"_I'm agreeing to this Sakura because he practically begged me to. He has his reasons."_

"_What aren't you telling me shishou?"_

_Tsunade let out another sigh, "Nothing Sakura. Naruto isn't here."_

"_Alright fine. If he's not here, then where is he?" the pink-haired kunoichi questioned._

"_I'm not sure Sakura, I dismissed him for the day, he didn't tell me what his plans for the rest of the day are."_

"_Fine, but don't think this is over shishou, I'm not going to stop until you tell me the real reason you agreed to this." Sakura huffed as she left the hokage's office._

_FLASH IN_

Sakura had spent the rest of that day searching for Naruto. Then the rest of that week, then the rest of that month. She never found him, but her friends had seen him, so she knew he was still alive and in Konoha. She tried everything she could think of to see him, she would spend an entire day quietly sitting with Tsunade in her office, waiting for the blonde to arrive.

She would sit in Ichiraku's from open to close, she would sit in front of his apartment. One time she even broke his door down and sat in his apartment for an entire night. But she never saw him. She tried using her friends who still were in contact with Naruto to get him to meet with her. She wanted to know why he was avoiding her.

When she first realized he was avoiding her, she took a long hard look at herself. Looking for any flaw that would suddenly make Naruto want to avoid her. She searched her memories for some action that drove him away. But she could never find any.

And so Sakura's life went on, she kept hoping against hope that she would happen to stumble upon him out and about in the village, and every time her friends all got together she kept her fingers crossed that the spiky-haired blonde would suddenly show up. But he never did.

And while she was sad to be living life without her best friend, she still enjoyed her life. She still had both of her parents and a great group of friends. Team 7 minus Naruto wasn't as fun without him, but it was still enjoyable. Sakura's life had been good. She wasn't miserable, and she was relatively happy enough.

Sakura was brought out of her musings as Naruto subconsciously turned towards her in his sleep. She smiled down at the man. Knowing that Naruto waking up to her sitting by him stroking his hair would not help her cause, she stood up. The pinkette bent down and gently kissed him on the cheek, before sending one more sad smile his way and leaving his apartment through his window.

_I might see him at the party tomorrow…_ Sakura thought in an attempt to cheer herself up. But she knew the truth, Naruto had never shown up to any of their gatherings. This was probably the only time she would be seeing him during the Christmas season.

* * *

Naruto was confused as he woke up in his warm bed, surrounded by his comforter. His cheek felt very warm, and it was… tingling. From the looks of things, someone had tucked him in. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on top of his father's head. _How the hell did I get here?_ The confused man wondered. _How long have I been asleep? _ The future hokage was surprised to see it was dark outside, and felt a familiar growl in his stomach.

Naruto sat down in a meditative position, determined to find out who brought him here. He gathered in natural energy and entered sage mode, hoping his enhanced senses would be able to pick up some clue. He walked though his apartment looking for anything, a footprint, a strand of hair, a dropped pen, anything. But he couldn't find any clues. He was interrupted from his investigation as his stomach again growled, announcing its displeasure to Naruto.

The again sapphire-eyed man dropped out of sage mode and left his apartment. While he was tempted to stop at Ichiraku's again, he was a little worried that Shizune would be there waiting for him to resume their discussion from earlier. So instead Naruto walked into a little hole in the wall bar that had great food. There's no way Shizune would be found in a bar.

"Naruto?" Tsunade hiccupped as she spotted him.

"Good evening Baa-chan." He greeted her with a smile. "Drunk already ne?" the jinchuriki winked.

"Shut up gaki. I'm not that drunk yet. What are you doing here?"

"I just woke up from a nap and was pretty hungry, and I had already gotten Ichiraku's for lunch today so I decided to come here. The food's great!" he finished with a toothy grin.

"Well sit down and join me then! Want some sake?"

"You know I don't drink that stuff Baa-chan."

"Believe me gaki, you will once you get my job." She winked.

"I highly doubt that Baa-chan." An exasperated Naruto replied. He would never understand why the hazel-eyed Hokage and his deceased master loved the stuff so much. It tasted awful… A waitress came and Naruto ordered some chicken dumplings.

"I heard that you stopped by the orphanage today. I'm proud of you brat."

"Thanks, but Teruchi gave the toys to me at an extreme discount this year. I'm not even sure if he's going to deposit the check. Is there any way as hokage you can force someone to deposit a check?"

Tsunade's laughter filled the bar. "Sorry Naruto, but no. I think you're about the only person in the world who complains about someone not depositing your check. Most people would be thrilled at the chance of not having to pay anything."

"Hehe, I can afford it Baa-chan. So there's really no need for Teruchi to give me so many toys for free."

"Teruchi is just another of the many people you've changed for the better Naruto. You should be proud that he wanted to donate the toys in the first place. I don't think he ever would have even dreamed about doing something like that ten years ago."

"I guess you're right baa-chan." Naruto said with a sheepish grin as the waitress brought his dumplings.

"Damn right I am, I'm the hokage!" she proudly huffed.

"For now!" the younger man retorted.

"Actually Naruto, I'm glad I ran into you. I wanted to talk to you about that. I've begun the process of hiring your assistant."

"Ne? Isn't that something I should do myself?"

"Nope! Generally the hokage hand-picks their successor's assistant. It's been too long since Konoha has had a hokage that could actually choose their successor!"

"I see… So how long is this process going to take?"

"Well, the hokage's assistant is a very important position. Especially if YOU'RE the hokage. Your assistant is going to need to be able to keep you in line, so I'm going to need to extensively interview each individual candidate."

"Oh come on Baa-chan, I won't need to be kept in line…" Naruto mumbled.

"Oh sure you won't, " Tsunade snorted. "Anyways, I think almost every single female in Konoha applied for the position, so it's going to take me about a month to conduct all the interviews.

"Please don't tell me you're going to hire one of my fan girls as my assistant…" Naruto muttered as sweat dropped down his head.

"I'm going to hire whoever I feel is best for the job, whether she or he is a fan girl or not."

"Fine…"

"You should be excited gaki. Hiring an assistant is really the last thing I have to do before handing over the title to you. Hopefully by this time next month, you'll be the Rokudaime Hokage!"

Naruto smiled at the thought. "Thanks Tsunade-sama… for everything."

"Tsunade-sama? I could get used to that!"

"Well don't Tsunade-**sama** because as soon as I become hokage I'm making it law that everyone calls you baa-chan!"

WHAM!

Tsunade's fist knocked Naruto's head through his now empty plate, through the table, where he made an indent in the floor.

"Brat…" Tsunade muttered. "Keep that up and I'll make Konohamura Hokage." She huffed with a smile. "Leave the brat there with the bill for my drinks AND repairs." The Hokage said to the owner of the bar with a cruel smile on her face.

"Merry Christmas Naruto."

"Mean old hag…" Naruto mumbled. After paying the large bill, Naruto began walking home.

"Hey dobe." he heard someone call from behind him. Naruto didn't need to turn around to know who said those words. There was only one person in the village who had the guts to call him dobe. Not wanting to talk to this particular man, he used his hirashin and was startled when he did not arrive in his house.

He looked around the room, confused. The walls were painted a dark red, and the house smelled like… _I could never forget this scent… SHIT, how did I get here?_

"Good to see you Naruto." Sakura called out directly behind him. A shocked Naruto spun around to face the woman he had spent the past two years of his life avoiding and gasped as he saw her twirling a three-pronged kunai around in her fingers.

He had forgotten how beautiful she was. And her beauty had only grown over the past two years. She was still much shorter than him, standing at about 5'3, but her pink hair now just reached her shoulders. Her figure was the epitome of perfection, it had always been in Naruto's opinion. She had all the best curves in all the right places. Her breasts had began growing even before Naruto had stopped talking to her, and they had now grown into perky c-cups. The perfect size for her body.

She was currently wearing a tight, white, spaghetti strap tanktop that left her belly exposed, and a pair of short black cloth shorts. Naruto blushed at the sight, and did everything in his power to hold back a nose bleed. He focused his eyes on the kunai in an effort to distract himself from the perfect scantily clad body of the kunoichi standing in front of him.

Seeing his eyes land on the familiar kunai, Sakura smirked. "You really should get a different escape tactic. To be honest, I'm a little ashamed I never thought of this before, and I'm even more ashamed that Kakashi-sensei recommended it. Also, you should really lock your windows, breaking into your apartment is too easy baka."

"Sa…Sakura-chan... what's going on?" Naruto sputtered, his mind furiously trying to come up with a quick escape plan. _I really should've set up more kunai around the village…_

"What's going on? You avoid me two years, forcing me to take extreme measures just to SEE YOU, AND YOU ASK ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" the pink-haired girl screamed as tears began forming in her eyes.

Pain shot through Naruto's heart; if there was one thing he hated seeing, it was seeing Sakura cry. But he didn't know what to say. It wasn't her fault she loved Sasuke. And it wasn't Naruto's fault that he loved Sakura. But what could he say to her? 'I'm sorry, I've been avoiding you because I love you and seeing you together with my best friend who tried to kill me on multiple occasions would just hurt too much?' That wouldn't do anyone any good. All Sakura would do is feel bad, say she's sorry that she doesn't return his feelings, and everyone involved would just feel worse…

"Well?" Sakura huffed, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Well what? What do you want me to say Sakura-chan?"

"Oh I don't know… How about telling me why the first time I saw you in two years you were asleep on top of the Hokage Monument in the cold and had started to catch a fever!"

"Nani?"

"Ino made Shikamaru tell me when you were on the Hokage monument, so I went up there hoping to catch you. And what do I come across? You, asleep, shivering and burning up. Two long years and the first time I see you I don't get so much as a hello…"

"You were on the Hokage Monument? " Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "So you're the one who…"

"Yes baka!" Sakura snapped. "Now tell me Naruto…" his former teammate's voice wavered. "Why? Why have you been avoiding me?" the tears she had been holding back began slowly seeping down her cheeks.

"Sakura-chan… it doesn't matter. Knowing my reasons won't make either you or I any happier. Just drop it, and accept it… please." the blonde pleaded.

"Drop it? Accept it? ACCEPT THAT MY MOST PRECIOUS PERSON IS AVOIDING ME? ACCEPT THAT MY MOST PRECIOUS PERSON NO LONGER WANTS TO BE AROUND ME?" Sakura was screaming so loud now that people in Suna could probably hear her.

"Your… most precious person?" Naruto gasped. _I had to have heard her wrong. Sasuke is her most precious person…_

"YES YOU STUPID STUBBORN BAKA. YOU ARE MY MOST PRECIOUS PERSON!" Sakura suddenly leapt forward and caught Naruto in an embrace as she laid her face in his chest and sobbed.

"But… but… Sasuke." Naruto stuttered.

WHAM!

Sakura punched Naruto straight into the ground.

"If you had actually talked to me about Sasuke, or let any of our friends talk to you about Sasuke or me you would know that I don't love Sasuke. We're just friends. I haven't loved Sasuke for years…" Sakura picked Naruto up from the ground and embraced him again.

"Nani?" Naruto muttered. His eyes widened as he broke from Sakura's embraced and crossed his hands. He closed his eyes...

"KAI!" Naruto cautiously opened an eye. _I'm still in Sakura-chan's apartment, Sakura-chan is still crying…_ _This has to be a genjutsu. _He closed his eye and again flared his chakra.

"Ka..UMPH"

Naruto was interrupted when Sakura crashed her lips into his. She pressed desperately into him, her lips mashing against his. As soon as Naruto realized what was going on, he pressed into Sakura, deepening the passionate kiss.

Sakura's mouth opened and he followed suit allowing their tongues to wage war with one another. Happy tears fell down the faces of both Naruto and Sakura as they continued the passionate kiss for five minutes before pulling back, gasping for air.

Matching soft smiles adorned their faces as they leaned their foreheads together, entranced by the others eyes.

"I'm sorry… I had no idea… I just assumed that you…"

He was again interrupted by Sakura pressing her soft lips to his. She pulled back, still smiling at him.

"Well you know what happens when you assume." She giggled.

"Yea yea, I know, I make an ass out of you and me…"

"Wrong, you prove that you're a baka and you owe your girlfriend big time for taking some initiative." Sakura mock scolded with a cute smile on her face.

For the hundredth time since flashing into Sakura's apartment, Naruto gasped.

"Did you just say… girlfriend Sakura-chan?" the kunoichi giggled some more at his startled expression.

"Of course baka. You don't think I broke into your apartment, stole your kunai, had Sasuke trick you into flashing to aforementioned kunai, and finally tell you my feelings just so we could be friends do you? Sorry Naruto, but I'm not giving you a choice. You're my boyfriend, I'm your girlfriend, no ifs ands or buts!"

Naruto smiled the largest most genuine smile he ever had as he stared into her beautiful emerald eyes.

"I think I can live with that Sakura-chan."

"Good, because I wouldn't want to have to pound the future hokage within an inch of his life for being a baka!" Sakura cooed sweetly causing Naruto to sweat-drop.

"Now come on. It's late and I'm tired, we're going to bed now."

"**We're** going to bed? So you tell me when I'm going to bed now?" the blonde playfully questioned.

His girlfriend looked him in the eye. "Damn straight I do. If you think I'm going to let you wear the pants in this relationship, you got another thing coming baka."

"What if I'm not tired yet?" Naruto pouted.

Sakura gave him a seductive smile. "I can think of a few ways to tire you out." Yet again, Naruto gasped.

"Oh jeeze Naruto, I've been waiting two years for you. Stop acting so surprised. Now come on. Bedroom. Now!" she ordered as she grabbed his hand and dragged him into her room.

As they neared the bed, Sakura stopped and smiled sweetly.

"Help me out of this will you? It's pretty hot in here."

Naruto cheeks burned red as nervous sweat fell from his body, he just stood there staring at her, dumbfounded.

"Not sure what to do? Here, let me show you." Sakura said in a sultry voice as she walked up to him and took off his jacket. Naruto gasped yet again as Sakura took his pants off. He now stood in front of Sakura in a white undershirt, his Christmas tree boxers, and his Santa hat still over his spiky-haired head.

Sakura leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. "There, like that. See, it's not so hard. Now your turn." She said with a cute grin as she held her hands up. With trembling arms Naruto pulled the spaghetti strap tank top over her head and nearly fainted when he saw Sakura's breasts being contained in a tight black lace bra, that didn't leave much to the imagination.

Sakura rewarded him for getting her shirt off by giving him another soft kiss, encouraging him to continue. The whiskered man dropped to his kness and pulled Sakura's black shorts down around her ankles, and again nearly fainted when he came face to face with Sakura's black lace panties.

Sakura kept her soft smile on him as she pulled him up. She was pleasantly surprised when Naruto instigated a kiss, and furiously returned the kiss. Pulling away, she pulled off his undershirt and gave him an approving look as she stared at his bare toned chest.

Before Naruto could do anything, she threw him onto her bed and pounced on him like a cat on a mouse. She captured his lips again and the two began to passionately make out. After what seemed like years, the couple pulled away from each other gasping for breath.

Sakura entranced Naruto with her seductive smile as she reached back and unclenched her bra.

"Sakura-chan… Are you sure you want to do this?" Naruto questioned meekly. She layed down and put her head on his chest as she wrapped her arms around his body, she shivered in delight as she felt him wrap his arms around her body. She could tell that he wanted this, yet here he was, thinking about her fist. Making sure that this is what she truly wanted.

She laid a gentle kiss on his chest before raising her head up and softly kissing her boyfriend on the lips. The pink-haired girl then brought her lips to his ear.

"I'm sure Naruto. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine." She whispered into his ear. She giggled lightly as she felt his body shiver, and placed a soft kiss on his ear before sitting back up. The two just stared into the other's eyes.

"I love you Naruto."

"I love you too Sakura-chan." The new couple smashed their lips together.

Both Naruto and Sakura would forever agree that this was one of the best nights of their life.

* * *

Next part up tomorrow! Please do review!


	2. December 24

Hey part 2! Part 3 will be up tomorrow!

I appreciate all the reviews/favorites/follows!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed: TheRealLifeAlucard, Nani-Rez, Echo Uchiha, Serenity Namikaze, bankai777, MyHikari, saveme57, dbzgtfan2004, Shrampo, Blazing CobaltX, Nutt Man 117, Cloud Ex-SOLDIER

TheRealLifeAlucard: Glad you enjoyed it! And thanks again for catching that mistake, I'm still a little embarrassed I missed that...

Nani-Rez: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well =)

Echo Uchiha: Thanks!

Serenity Namikaze: More? /e salutes. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Hehe, it seems I have a habit of making Naruto overly stubborn in my stories so far =P

bankai777: Hehe, agreed! Although this story covers the 23, 24, and 25, so there will be no mention of New Year's day. Although that's another holiday, maybe I'll write a New Year's oneshot... Hmmmm... /e scratches chin

MyHikari: I'm glad you enjoyed it! More funny times to follow in this chapter... in my opinion anyways =P

saveme57: Haha. Ya, thank god that was all just a dumb assumption of stubborn Naruto...

dbzgtfan2004: Thanks! /e salute. Enjoy this chapter!

Shrampo: Hah, ya, story #2! It's certainly a lot fluffier than "A Jinchuriki's Husk!" I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and hope you enjoy this one as well! Merry Christmas to you too =)

Blazing CobaltX: Oh jeeze! The day you see a story written by me that has Naruto paired with anyone other than Sakura you should start stocking up for the apocalypse =P

Nutt Man 117: It will keep it's teen rating. Lemons aren't exactly my specialty. I might try to do a lemon one-shot eventually, but that's a maybe. Sorry to dissapoint!

Cloud Ex-SOLDIER: Thanks! If you keep using the same tactic to escape eventually someone's going to figure out a way to stop it =P I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would've hirashined directly in front of the grinch and hit him with a rasengan when he was first trying to steal all the presents from Whoville.

* * *

"Kai!" Sakura groggily opened her eyes as Nauto tried again to release the genjutsu the knucklehead seemed to think he was in.

"Kai!"

She fully opened her eyes and sighed as she looked into her boyfriend's sapphire ones.

"Baka. I thought I convinced you last night you weren't in a genjutsu."

"I know Sakura-chan… It's just… I've dreamed about this all of my life. And after last night… then waking up this morning with you wrapped around me… It just doesn't seem…"

Sakura interrupted him with a kiss. Then looked deep into his eyes. "This is real Naruto. I love you."

Happy tears formed on the edge of Naruto's eyes, "I love you too Sakura-chan."

"Oh what's this? Is the mighty hero of Konoha, and the future Rokudaime Hokage about to cry?" she teased.

"…Shut up Sakura-chan." The whiskered man muttered rubbing his eyes. "I just had something in my eyes... it's still early."

"Mmhmm,surrre Naruto-**kun**." The pink-haired girl said with a wink as she quickly pecked her boyfriend on the cheek.

"So what do you want to do today? Let's take a walk around the village, then if you're really good I suppose we can get some ramen."

"Sakura-chan, what do you mean we?"

"Naruto… we've been over this. This is real, you're not in a genjutsu. You're my…"

"No no Sakura-chan, it's nothing like that." Naruto interrupted while shaking his hands in front of him with a nervous smile. "It' just that… well we're dating now and I haven't gotten you anything for Christmas… So…"

"What? You haven't got me a Christmas present yet Naruto?" Sakura gasped in mock surprise.

"Well… err… No Sakura-chan. Yesterday was the first time we had even seen each other in two years…"

"So? I already have your present!" Sakura quickly interrupted with a cute smile.

"Nani?"

His girlfriend continued smiling at him, "Yep, I've had it for two years now."

Naruto just looked at her stunned, not knowing how to respond.

"Fine. But you don't need all day to find my present. You don't even really need to get me anything at all." She mock scolded, snapping Naruto out of his shock.

"Not get you anything? NO WAY SAKURA-CHAN! I'M GOING TO GET YOU THE BEST PRESENT EVER! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled, briefly reverting back to the loud Naruto he used to be.

Sakura giggled at her blonde's antics. "Jeeze, fine. Quiet down, all of my neighbors are probably trying to get back to sleep now after that little outburst. But still, I finally got you, I want to spend today with you, it's Christmas Eve!" Sakura pouted.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, you'll be happy once you receive your present."

Sakura sighed in defeat. "Fine, but don't forget about the party tonight."

"I won't Sakura-chan. I'll be back before you know it!"

And with that, Naruto dashed off with a big grin on his face.

* * *

"Hi Pig!" called a smiling Sakura as she walked into the Yamanka flower shop looking at her best friend whose face was currently buried in a wedding magazine.

"Oh hey Forehead, what's up?" a distracted Ino replied, not looking up.

"Oh nothing much. I just decided to stop by and see how you're doing."

"Is that so?" Ino questioned curiously peering up at her friend. She held back a gasp as she took in Sakura's expression. _It's been years since I've seen Sakura smile like that… I wonder…_

"So what's new forehead?"

"Well… let's see… I broke into Naruto's place yesterday."

"YOU WHAT?" Ino shouted. "Forehead, I know the baka is an idiot and you miss him, but breaking into someone's house is a serious crime. I'm not so sure Naruto wouldn't press charges right now."

"Oh I doubt he would." Sakura casually replied, taking out a familiar three-pronged kunai and began twirling it around.

Ino gasped, "Forehead did you… SAKURA THAT'S GENIUS!"

The pink-haired kunoichi smirked. "I know, Kakashi-sensei gave me the idea. Then I sent Sasuke to force him to use the hirashin. You should've seen the look on his face when he realized he wasn't in his apartment!"

"So I'm judging by the happy look on your face, things went well?"

Sakura reached into her pocket and pulled out a box. "I'm going to be giving him this tomorrow if that's any indicator." She answered with a soft smile.

"You still have that?" Ino sputtered.

"Of course! I would never throw this away!"

"So are you…"

"Yes, we're together. Naruto is my boyfriend."

A mischievous smirk appeared on Ino's face and Sakura instantly regretted coming to her best friend.

"So have you two fu…"

"INO!" A furiously blushing Sakura interrupted. "It's none of your business."

"I'll take that as a yes!" Sakura prepared for another round of Ino's teasing when suddenly the blonde wrapped her pink-haired friend in a tight hug. "But seriously Sakura, I'm so happy for you. It's about time you got through to that baka." Ino said in a soft voice.

"Thanks Ino… I still can't believe this is real." Sakura startled chuckling a little. "Apparently Naruto's in the same boat as me. I woke up this morning to him trying to dispel the 'genjutsu' he seemed to think he was in."

"Why am I not surprised…" Ino sighed, before the two friends burst out in happy laughter.

* * *

Naruto happily bound out of the jewelry shop. _This is perfect! With this I can make Sakura-chan the perfect gift!_ The blonde stuffed the jewelry he had just bought in his pocket. _Now to go home and study some of dad's scrolls on sealing…_

Without thinking, Naruto used his hirashin and the surprised whiskered man suddenly flashed in front of a laughing Ino and Sakura.

"Oh… right. You still have that don't you Sakura-chan?" The blonde sheepishly said as he scratched the back of his head and pointed at the kunai in Sakura's hand.

"Oh I'm SURE you forgot about that Naruto." Ino smirked.

"I did… honest!" Naruto quickly shot back, before he realized who he was talking to. _Oh crap… Ino!_ Naruto thought as he remembered Shikamaru's warning from yesterday.

"Oh and Narutoooo." Ino called sweetly. "I'd like to have a little… chat in regards to your actions yesterday." Ino had an evil smile.

"CRAP!" Naruto said, as by instinct he tried to flash away, only to instantly reappear in the exact same place. "You're killing me Sakura-chan…" the blonde-haired man muttered before turning to Ino. Sakura just sweetly giggled at him.

"About that Ino… I'm sorry. I guess I've sort of been a little stubborn these past couple of years."

Ino's evil smile turned into a genuine grin, "A little? Try very!" the blonde woman gave the blonde man a hug. "I'm just happy someone was finally to break through your stubborn exterior. It's about time."

Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "So Naruto, are you done shopping for me yet?" asked a hopeful Sakura.

"Sorry Sakura-chan. But I've got a few things I need to do first before your gift is ready." Sakura pouted at him.

"I suppose you'll want this back to?" she mumbled somewhat sadly holding out his kunai.

"Nah, keep it. I have plenty more and I like the idea of being able to instantly flash to you." He answered with a smile, which she matched. "Alright. I'm going to get going now, I have lots to do. See ya Ino, Sakura-chan!" the happy whiskered blonde said as he ran off to his house.

* * *

Sakura knocked on the Hokage's door. She left the flower shop shortly after Naruto, and decided to visit her master and give her Christmas gift to her since she probably wouldn't see the woman tomorrow. And it was another excuse to talk about her night.

"Enter!" the hokage commanded. She looked up and smiled as she watched Sakura walk into her office.

"Sakura! How are you?"

"I'm great shishou. I came here to give you your Christmas present!" The pink-haired girl said as she plopped a box wrapped in red and white paper with a green bow on Tsunade's desk. The Hokage smiled, and reached into her drawer, pulling out a box wrapped in green wrapping paper, with a golden bow.

"I'm glad you came, it saves me the time of having to come find you to give you yours."

"You first shishou!"

Tsunade smiled at her student, before tearing the paper away. The Godaime Hokage gasped and tears from formed in her eyes. "Sakura… how did…"

"I found it in an old used bookstore when I was in Suna last. I knew that this was one his few books you actually liked, so I instantly snatched it up."

Tears slowly leaked out of Tsunade's eyes as she stared down at the book her apprentice had bought her. "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi." She flipped to the back of the book and saw a picture of a young grinning Jiraiya. A message saying he was inspired by a pupil of his to write this.

"If only this book would've sold better, maybe he would've wasted his talent writing all those perverted novels." Tsunade said softly as a tear trickled down her cheak. She stood up and hugged her student. "Thank you Sakura, thank you so much."

"You're welcome shishou!" Sakura replied with a happy smile. Tsunade's smile turned into a smirk. "Ok Sakura, now it's your turn."

The pink-haired kunoichi was confused by her master's face, but slowly opened the present. It was some sort of clothing box. As she removed the lid she gasped and blushed. "SHISHOU!"

"What? Kakashi told me about your night, so I figured you could use this now." The smirking Hokage said with a wink.

Sakura stared at her teacher with a shocked expression, then down at her teacher's gift. A matching set of red see through bra and panties, and a white velvet corsette lined with red fur, and the Haruno symbol was stiched on the back.

The girl couldn't stop blushing.

"And you found this and purchased it that quickly?" the blushing Sakura asked.

"Well… let's just say I had a plan in motion to get you and Naruto together." Tsunade said innocently.

"Nani? What plan shishou?"

Tsunade winked at her, "It's a secret."

Sakura just sighed as she returned her attention to her gift.

"I have a feeling you'll get good use out of this gift." Tsunade teased, causing her student's blush to grow even larger.

"Th…thank you Tsunade-sama." Sakura said, hastily putting the lid back on top of the box, before stuffing the box under her arm, as if she was trying to hide it from the world.

Tsunade laughed as she watched her student.

"I'm glad you finally got through to him Sakura. I've been trying for the past two years but the knucklehead would always just flash away."

"Leave it to Kakashi-sensei to think to use the hirashin against him." Sakura joked.

Master and student burst into laughter.

* * *

Naruto's eyes were getting tired as he read his father's scroll. _I knew I should've learned __**why**__ dad's seal works instead of just copying it. _He looked around at the 30 shadow clones he had summoned that were sitting throughout his apartment, reading some sort of scroll on seals.

He scanned each clone, searching for any sign that the clone had figured out what he needed. Unfortunately, all the clones looked just as baffled as he was.

"Yo!" a voice interrupted his thought.

"Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?"

"I was just in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by. I'm surprised you're not with Sakura."

The blonde blushed. "Thanks for that by the way Sensei. I mean it."

"Ah don't worry about it. So what's with all the scrolls he asked as he peered over a clone's shoulder. Scrolls on sealing? What do you need to know, I'm pretty good with seals being your father's student and all."

"Well sensei, I'm trying to change one of my father's seals…"

* * *

Sakura sat on her bed staring at Tsunade's gift as she thought how to best put it to use. Then she suddenly remembered the kunai she still had in her possession and her boyfriend's lack of memory, and quickly stuffed the box into her closet, hiding it beneath a spare blanket.

Satisfied with her hiding job, she searched through her closet for what she was going to wear to the party tonight. It had been two years since she had moved out of her parents' house but she still hadn't brought her dressier clothes from to her apartment. She just never had much of a reason to dress up the last two years.

Sighing, she left her apartment and headed to her parents' house. Her mom would probably insist helping her pick out an outfit for the party once Sakura told her Naruto was finally her boyfriend. As she opened the door, the smell of pies wafted into Sakura's nostrils, causing her to drool a little bit.

"Sakura? What a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow for dinner." Her mother called, her long red hair tied in a messy bun as she pulled a pie out of the oven.

"Makoto, your daughter is here!" She called into the living room.

"Sakura, it's good to see you." Her father greeted her.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. I actually came by to talk to you guys about tomorrow."

Her parents nodded at her to continue.

"Well… I'm bringing someone with me tomorrow." She said with a small smile.

"Who? Ino? I had heard that her family was going to wait to have Christmas dinner until the 26th so they could wait for a few family members to arrive from out of town." Her clueless father asked.

Sakura's mother noticed her daughter's smile, and a large smile covered her face. "Don't tell me… Did he finally…?

"What? He, what are you talking about?" Makato questioned.

"Yes mom, it took a little bit of trickery on my part, but I will be bringing my **boyfriend **with me tomorrow."

"Oh Sakura dear, that's great!" her mother said as she hugged her daughter.

"Boyfriend?" her dad sputtered. As far he knew, she hadn't shown any interest in dating any boys for the past two years.

"You're a talented man Makato, but understanding a woman's heart was never one of your strengths." His wife scolded. "Sakura's finally dating Naruto!"

"Naruto? As in Naruto Uzumaki, the Yondaime's boy?"

"Yes dad, where have you been for the past four years?" an exasperated Sakura sighed.

Makato smiled at his daughter and hugged her. "I don't know, but I'm glad you got him as your boyfriend. From what I've seen of him, and heard from you, he's a great man. Now maybe your mother and I can finally become grandparents!"

Sakura blushed. "Dad! Don't say that, I'm only 20!"

"You may only be 20, but I'm 53! I don't have time to wait."

WHAM!

"Kaori why…" Sakura's dad said, in a crumpled heap on the ground a large bump on the back of his head.

"Stop pestering Sakura about grandchildren. She'll have kids when she decides she's ready!" the red-haired Haruno women scolded before returning her smile to her only daughter.

"So what are you and your new boyfriend up to tonight Sakura?"

"Ah, that's actually the other reason I came here. We're going to a Christmas party that Ino and Shikamaru are having tonight and I still haven't taken any of my nice clothes to my apartment."

"OOOOH!" her mother squealed. "Follow me, I've got the perfect outfit for you." Sakura followed her mother into her parents' bedroom, and stood watching as her mother poked around her closet.

"Here it is!" she called out in a happy voice. When she turned around, Sakura gasped. Her mother was holding the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen.

"Mom… where did you find that?"

"I made it! I was going to wait to give it to you tomorrow, but I think I can give you this early. Try it on!"

Sakura slipped the kimono on and couldn't believe that the woman she saw in the mirror was herself. The kimono was the exact same shade of green as her eyes. With one left sleeve, leaving her right shoulder completely exposed. There was a large opening in the fabric to show off her gracious bust, and the form fitting fabric stopped just past her thighs. Pink cherry blossoms traveled from the top of the left sleeve, all the way down the side.

"I look... amazing!" Sakura gasped.

Her mom beamed at her. "You sure do! Naruto won't be able to take his eyes off you tonight! Now come on, let me do your makeup and hair!"

After the kimono her mom made her, Sakura decided to put her faith in the older Haruno woman.

* * *

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto yelled out. "Thanks Kakashi-sensei, we did it!"

"You're welcome Naruto, I'm sure Sakura will love it."

"By the way Sensei, while you're here, let me give you your Christmas present!" The blonde said as he rushed to his closet. He emerged a few seconds later with a messily wrapped orange package.

Kakashi opened the gift and his one eye widened in surprise. "Is this what I think it is?"

Naruto nodded. "Hai. This is the last book pervy sage was working on before he… passed on. Don't tell Sakura-chan, but I finished it and it's going to be hitting the stands in a couple of days under pervy sage's name."

Kakashi's visible eye watered as he hugged the boy, "This is the greatest gift I've ever received Naruto. I'm proud to be able to call the man who is continuing Jiraiya-sama's great works of art my student."

"Whoah whoah whoah Kakashi-sensei. I never said I'm continuing his work, Sakura would kill me! I would never have finished and published this had I been dating Sakura. I'm still slightly worried she'll see it, put two and two together and put me in the hospital…" Naruto said as he sweat-dropped at the thought.

"Well don't worry Naruto, your secret is safe with me." Kakashi replied with an eye smile. Kakashi reached into his jonin vest and pulled out a scroll. He unsealed a green and blue wrapped gift.

"Merry Christmas Naruto." The copy nin said putting the gift in Naruto's hands.

Naruto tore the wrapping paper off and sweat-dropped. "Uh… thanks Kakashi-sensei." The blonde drawled as he looked down at a complete volume of the Icha Icha series.

"You should really just give them a chance Naruto, they're great books!"

"Uh… right sensei." Naruto muttered as he glanced out the window. It was getting dark.

"CRAP! It's getting late, I need to get changed and pick Sakura-chan up!"

"I'll leave you to that then. Thanks again for the present Naruto and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas sensei."

As Kakashi poofed away, Naruto rushed to his closet and pulled out the one nice outfit he had. He threw on his white button up shirt, with black dress pants that had a sapphire stripe going down their sides. He quickly put on a matching sapphire tie, and threw on a black overcoat that just reached his knees on over the shirt, that had Uzumaki written on it in a sapphire kanji.

He put on a pair of black dress boots, and focused on the kunai Sakura currently had in her possession. He disappeared in a yellow flash.

* * *

Sakura had the foresight to put Naruto's kunai downstairs in the living room while her mom helped her get ready for the party, she didn't want Naruto seeing her until she was completely ready. The sapphire-eyed man was surprised when he appeared in front of a man with white hair and emerald green eyes that looked a lot like Sakura's.

"Ah Naruto? You're early. Sakura's not ready yet." The man greeted.

"Ermm.. ok?" The confused blonde replied. Not really knowing what is going on.

"Oh, sorry!" The man stood up and shook Naruto's hand. "My name is Makato Haruno, Sakura's father. It's a pleasure to meet you Naruto-sama."

Naruto nervously laughed as he threw he scratched the back of his head. "Naruto is just fine Haruno-san."

"Well then Makato is just fine Naruto!" The white-haired man retorted. "But anyways Naruto, I don't think Sakura is going to be ready for a little bit. If you guys want to make the party in time, it might not be a bad idea to go over to the Nara residence and plant one of these fancy kunai so you guys can get there in a flash."

"Good idea Haru… Makato!" Naruto corrected himself. "Thanks, I'll be back in a bit!"

Naruto ran out the door towards Shikamaru's.

* * *

Sakura's mother smiled at her. "You look beautiful dear."

"Thanks Mom, you really impressed me here."

Sakura examined herself in the mirror, she was the very epitome of feminine beauty. Her mom had applied the perfect amount of make-up, and her hair was tied up in a bun which her mother had placed two emerald crisscrossing hairsticks.

She checked the time, "Crap! Mom, the party starts in two minutes! We're going to be late!"

"Calm down honey, you went to all this trouble to knock Naruto's socks off, don't go wasting all that effort for nothing. If you're late, you're late. Besides, isn't it 'cool' to be fashionably late to a party?"

Sakura smiled at her mom. "You're right. Is Naruto here yet?" Her mother walked into the hallway and peered down the stairs and nodded to her with a pleased smile on her face.

_Oh boy, Sakura is probably going to be almost as surprised as Naruto. If I was 20 years younger I think I would take a pass at him, SHANAROO!_ Kaori Haruno thought to herself.

"Naruto, Sakura's finally ready. Sorry we took so long" The elder Haruno woman called. That was Sakura's cue. She slowly walked down the stairs and smiled as she saw the look on Naruto's face. He was looking at her like she was a goddess.

"Sakura-chan, you… you… look…so beautiful." The future hokage stuttered trying his best not to drool.

Sakura now took a moment to look him over, and was trying not to drool herself. _**NARUTO LOOKS SO HOT SHANAROO! SCREW THE PARTY, LET'S JUST GO BACK TO OUR PLACE AND HAVE OUR WAY WITH HIM!**_ her inner squealed, and for once, Sakura wasn't disagreeing with her.

"You look very handsome yourself. You should wear that more often." She said as she gave him an approving look. She managed to shake herself out of gawking at her boyfriend as she remembered they were already late.

"Ok, we need to go now. The party starts in a minute. Bye mom, bye dad!"

"Relax Sakura-chan, we're not going to be late." Naruto smiled at her as he walked up to her and put an arm around her waist.

"What are you talking about there's…"

Sakura's parents watched in slight awe as their daughter and her boyfriend disappeared in a flash of pink and yellow.

"…No way we can get there in time." Sakura finished before she realized where they were. She looked at the wall they were standing by and saw a familiar three-pronged kunai. She smiled and leaned into her boyfriend.

"Told you we wouldn't be late. That's one of the perks of being my girlfriend! You get access to the hirashin Naruto train!" He boasted with a large foxy grin.

"…You do realize how cheesy and corny that sounded right?" Sakura teased, even though she loved it.

"Oh you liked it." Her boyfriend playfully called back.

"CRAP!" Sakura suddenly yelled. "I forgot to get presents!"

"Nani?" Naruto asked. "What do you mean presents?"

Sakura sighed at him. "I should've known you would've forgotten. This is a white-elephant party. We need to have presents for the gift exchange." Sakura looped her arm around Naruto's waist. "Well? Let's get going Mr. Hirashin Naruto Train!"

The pair flashed away, and reappeared in Naruto's apartment. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! I have just the thing!" The whiskered blonde foolishly picked up Kakashi's gift and waved the books in Sakura's face.

WHAM!

"YOU PERVERT NARUTO! Why do you have those books? I should've known you would've picked up some of Jiraiya's…"

"No Sakura-chan it's not like that! Kakashi-sensei just gave them to me for Christmas, but I don't want them. So we can give them away as white elephant gifts!"

"What? No, I don't want to give someone those perverted books!"

"Would you rather me keep them?" Naruto retorted. That was all he needed to say and in a matter of minutes, the books were neatly wrapped in two orange and blue packages.

"Now let's go." Sakura said as she again wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's waist.

They again appeared in a pink and yellow flash, except this time right in front of Lee and Tenten.

"YOSH! NARUTO-KUN AND SAKURA-SAN HAVE FINALLY IGNITED THEIR YOUTHFUL FLAMES OF LOVE!" The bushy-browed man yelled. Sakura was pleasantly surprised to see that Lee wasn't wearing a green jumpsuit.

Not that he had abandoned the color, he wore a green suit with a white undershirt and black tie, and green shoes. Truth be told, he kind of looked like a bushy-browed, tall, Asian leprechaun… But still better than the normal hideous green jumpsuit. Tenten was wearing a modest white kimono with green trim.

"It's about time Naruto!" The weapon mistress said.

"I'm going to be hearing that a lot tonight aren't I?" Naruto muttered to Sakura who turned and beamed at him.

"Damn right! Because it's true."

"I can't argue with that." He replied, softly kissing her forehead.

* * *

Shikamaru and Ino had really outdone themselves with the party. It was held in the main Nara hall. White Christmas lights filled the room, with silver and gold garland streamed about and a large Christmas tree in the corner.

Ino had made a highly alcoholic egg nog, and with its help, the entire Rookie 9, Team Guy, and Sai were all dancing the night away, even Shino and Sasuke got drunk enough to dance. Well, everyone except for Lee anyways. Tenten didn't feel like dealing with Lee's drunken fist so forbade him from drinking any of the nog. But Tenten eventually got Lee to join in the dancing too.

Finally the time came for the gift exchange, and everyone picked their numbers. Sakura unfortunately drew the 1st pick. She wanted the last so she could see all the gifts and take the one she liked the most. Naruto of course, got the 12th pick. Or so she thought.

"Alright, let's get this started!" Ino excitedly called.

Sakura went to step forward but, Naruto got up first.

"Naruto what are you doing?" His only response was waving the slip of paper that had a 1 on it in front of her.

_What? How did he… when did he?_

Naruto was quickly distracted by two neatly wrapped orange and blue packages in front of him. He stood between the two trying to figure out which one he wanted to pick out, completely forgetting that the gifts were his and Sakura's.

"NA-RU-TO! THOSE ARE OUR GIFTS YOU BAKA!" Sakura yelled, before instantly regretting what she just said. Now everyone was going to know she gifted Icha Icha Paradise books…

The startled blonde turned around, scratching his head and flashed her a stupid grin. "Oops, you're right Sakura-chan! I was just distracted by the wrapping paper I guess…"

Naruto would never tell Sakura that he secretly wanted the books back, and that he was curious to read his late master's work and that he had only offered them as white elephant gifts just to avoid getting killed by Sakura later.

His eyes caught sight of a green package that looked kind of big. Tearing it open he sweat-dropped.

"What is it Naruto?" Ino asked.

He held up his newest Christmas gift. "The Chronicles of Youth, Volumes 1-10, by Guy-sensei."

"YOSH! I'M NOT SURPRISED THAT ONE WITH YOUTH AS BRIGHT AS YOURS WOULD'VE PICKED THAT PRESENT NARUTO-KUN. GUY-SENSEI'S BOOKS ARE AMAZING!" Lee yelled excitedly.

As Naruto returned to Sakura's side, he began flipping through one of the books.

_Then the mighty and powerful Guye in his powerful youth declared the suave and cool Kakashin his eternal rival…_

Naruto sweat-dropped.

Sakura laughed at him, "That's what you get for switching places with me!"

"But Sakura-chaaaaaan. I saw the brief disappointment in your face when you got the 1st pick, I was just trying to help." He pouted.

Sakura gave him a peck on the cheek, successfully removing the pout. "You didn't have to, and thanks baka."

Next up was Sasuke. Much to everyone's surprise he took Guy's books from Naruto. Everyone looked at him strangely, except for Lee.

"AH! A VERY WISE DECISION SASUKE-KUN. I WOULD EXPECT NOTHING LESS FROM MY RIVAL!"

"Dude.. what the hell?" Asked a confused Kiba.

"Hhn. I like reading and need something new. I've re-read Jiraiya's works far too many times to count."

"You're turning out to be just like Kakashi, know that?" Ino sweat dropped.

With Naruto's gift stolen, it was again his turn to pick a new gift from the pile. Determined not to squander his second chance, he found a small green box, with a white bow. When he tore the wrapping paper away and was rewarded with an entire booklet filled with ramen coupons.

"YATTA!" Naruto yelled jumping in the air in victory, while everyone else just shook their heads.

"How did I know that it was going to be Naruto who got that…" Shikamaru muttered, causing everyone in the room to laugh.

Next up was Ino, she had noticed Sakura's face earlier when she was yelling at Naruto about almost opening their own gifts. Sakura looked like she instantly regretted yelling out that both packages were from her and Naruto.

She picked up one of the orange packages, and tore open the wrapping paper. Her face turned into an evil smile. "Forehead! I had no idea you were such a pervert!" Ino said holding up the first half of a complete volume of Icha Icha Paradise.

Sakura blushed pink, "They were Naruto's idea." She muttered. Thankfully for Naruto's sake, his girlfriend did not catch the small look of disappointment on his face when Ino unwrapped the gift. _Looks like I'm not going to be getting those back anytime soon…_ The whiskered man thought.

Shikamaru was next up, and Ino forced him to get the other orange package.

"Alright! We now have the complete volume of Icha Icha Paradise! Thanks Naruto and Sakura!" Ino cooed, causing Sakura to cast an angry glance at her boyfriend.

"Complete for now." Sasuke said. He missed the look of 'you shut the hell up right now' from Naruto. "I heard one last book is being released that Jiraiya-sama had been working on before he passed."

_What? I thought Naruto said we didn't have to worry about anymore of those perverted books. He said that Jiraiya was only half way finished with his last book, so no one could really come in and ghost write it._ A suspicious Sakura thought.

"Really? That's great news." A stoic Shino said, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

"Ya, it's rumored that the last half of the book was finished by someone else. And from what the publishers of the book have said, it's even more vivid and detailed than Jiraiya's half."

"NA-RU-TOOOOOOO!" Sakura growled.

"Damnit Sasuke…" Naruto mumbled, shooting the Uchiha with a 'you treacherous bastard' look before turning to his angry girlfriend. "Ne Sakura-chan… I was trying… to pay tribute to pervy sage you see. I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted his last book to go unfinished, and since I am his only living male apprentice, it fell on…"

WHAM!

"I'm going to kill you Sasuke…" Naruto muttered from his place in the ground.

"Not if I kill you first Ero-baka!"

This caused everyone in the room to start laughing again. Everyone except Naruto.

"You're so mean Sakura-chaaaaan." The boy pouted.

Sakura rewarded his pouting with another smack to the back of the head. "If you weren't such a pervert I wouldn't have to be so mean."

To add to Naruto's troubles, it was Chouji's turn to pick a gift, and the large Akimichi instantly came and snatched up Naruto's booklet of free ramen coupons. Tears formed on the edge of Naruto's eyes as he briefly considered the pros and cons of charging Chouji with a rasengan to get his beloved booklet back.

Dejected, Naruto picked up a present wrapped in purple paper with a white bow. He was too busy being sad about his loss of ramen to pay any attention to Shikamaru's whisperings of, "Naruto, you don't want that!"

Nartuo opened the box and was met with more embarrassment as he pulled out a pink v-neck t-shirt that said, "Girls just wanna have fun!" on it.

"Oh Naruto, I'm so glad you got that. It will look so nice on you. Try it on!" Ino cruely cooed.

Luckily for Naruto, Sakura happened to like the way he was dressed tonight and wasn't ready to let him change into anything else.

"Sorry Ino-pig, but Naruto's not going to wear that yet. For once he's actually dressed nice." Naruto looked at Sakura as if she was his savior. "I'll have him wear it when we stop by your place in a couple of days."

"Sakura-chaaaaaan!"

"Oh good! I'll have my camera ready!"

Seeing the cute crestfallen look on her boyfriend's face, Sakura quickly pecked him on the lips to cheer him up. "Oh it'll be funny, and I'm sure you'll look cute!"

"Whatever you say Sakura-chan…" he grumbled with a small smile.

Shino was next up, and unwrapped a blue and white package. Everyone sweat-dropped and looked at Sasuke as Shino stared down at the complete Twilight series.

"What?" the Uchiha calmly replied. "They're good stories ok? Just give them a chance Shino, you'll like them. Team Edward forever."

"Sometimes I think you really are gay Sasuke…" Ino mumbled, causing everyone again to burst out into laughter… well everyone except the scowling Sasuke.

Next up was Kiba, who instantly shot towards a gift wrapped in white, with a purple bow.

"Kiba-kun, you can't pick my gift because you already know what it is." Hinata chided.

Grumbling, the Inuzuka picked out a red and white wrapped gift. Cook books, and a lot of them.

"Those are some of my mother's favorite cook books, you wouldn't believe the amazing recipes they have in there!" Chouji beamed.

"Thanks Chouji." Kiba responded as his eyes stared longingly at Hinata's gift.

Next up was Sai, who picked out what was clearly Kiba's gift by the way Kiba snickered. His blank face held up a pair of edible panties, causing every woman in the room to turn to Kiba with a glare, while every man in the groom turned to Sai with a look of jealousy.

With Lee's turn, he walked over to Sai, clearly intending on taking the edible panties.

"Don't even think about it Lee, or else I will personally make sure your **"youth"** doesn't work for the rest of your life." Tenten threatened. A sweating Lee picked up a box wrapped in blue paper, and unwrapped it to reveal a "Guide to Konoha's Insect Life by Shino Aburame."

"Ah, I think you'll find that very interesting Lee. You would be surprised at how diverse of an insect population Konoha has." Shino said in his usual tone.

Tenten was up and snatched Hinata's gift, she smiled as she opened a small bottle of expensive sake. Lee looked at the bottle longingly.

"Don't even think about it youth boy." The bun-haired girl threatened.

Hinata felt bad for her boyfriend, so took the cook books from him, Kiba wasn't one to cook. She instantly regretted the decision as Kiba went straight to Tenten and grabbed the bottle of sake. A frowning Tenten , picked one of the last three gifts to reveal a beautiful silver necklace.

All the girls eyes lit up at the necklace, it was beautiful.

"Who's gift was that?" Ino practically yelled.

"I've been trying out new forms of art. I made it" Sai responded with one of his strange smiles.

"It's beautiful Sai!" Sakura cooed.

With Neji's turn, he walked over to Sai and to everyone's surprise took the edible panties from the former Root member. Everyone was even more surprised when Sai glared at Neji.

"Why are you taking those from me? It's not as if you have any use for them. I don't recall you having a girlfriend White Eyes." Sai said in his emotionless tone.

"It's none of your business, but let's just say I've changed my destiny a little." Neji replied stoically.

"That was a little cheesy Neji…" Naruto scoffed.

"Shut up Naruto…" The Hyuga man mumbled as he returned to his seat.

Sai got up and picked out a black package, wrapped in a silver bow. He opened it and held up a volume of books, everyone sweat-dropped a little as Sai announced the title. "Chronicles of Youth, Volumes 11-20, by Guy-sensei."

"THAT WAS SO YOUTHFUL AND GENEROUS OF YOU TO GIVE PART OF YOUR COLLECTION NEJI-SAN! YOUR YOUTH IS SHINING BRILLIANTLY THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON! GUY SEN…" Wham! Tenten shut Lee up with a fist to the back of his head.

"I couldn't really think of what I should get for the white elephant exchange, so I just used it as an excuse to dump off some of Guy-sensei's books on someone else…" the stoic Hyuga muttered.

"Just how many 'Chronicles of Youth' books are there anyways?" Naruto wondered.

"GUY-SEN…"

"LEE! Inside voice!" Tenten interrupted with a groan.

"Guy-sensei is currently working on his 47th 'Chronicles of Youth Book,' you'll have to get it when it comes out Naruto-kun, I believe there is a character inspired by you in it! The great hero Narutoi!" Lee said in a quieter voice that still held the same overwhelming enthusiasm.

Sakura was last up, and she knew what she was going to get. It was an easy decision. She walked straight up to Tenten and stopped. Sighing Tenten started to hand the necklace over but Sakura surprised everyone as she marched to Chouji.

_A little theatrics never hurt anyone_. She thought. She walked straight up to the Akamichi and swiped the booklet of free ramen coupons from him, surprising everyone, and causing a tears of joy to fall from her boyfriends eyes.

A grumbling Chouji walked over to Shino and took the Twilight books, surprising everyone.

"What? I figure if so many chicks like these things, then it might not be a bad idea to read them and see what the big deal is."

If one could have seen Shino's face, they probably would've laughed at the disappointed frown that took over. Shino unwrapped the last gift which happened to be a set of brand new shurikens from Tenten's father.

With the gift exchange over, everyone said their goodbyes. Naruto and Sakura flashed to his apartment.

* * *

"I can't believe you picked the ramen booklet over Sai's necklace for me Sakura-chan." Naruto happily said wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I got the ramen booklet for myself baka."

"NANI?"

"Of course. It's another way to keep you in line!" She said matter of factly.

"That's mean Sakura-chaaan." He whined.

They pressed their lips against the others before Sakura grabbed his hand and led him to his bedroom.

"Come on, let's go to 'bed'" She winked.

* * *

Alright! That was fun. Sasuke was a bit OOC'ish, but oh well. The final part will be up tomorrow, so stop back then! Also, please do review =)

Update: One of my favorites here, Serenity Namikaze, wrote a quick little mini story after reading this chapter which I found amusing, so I'm going to post it here.

I repeat, Serenity Namikaze wrote this, so all credit goes to her for this entertaining goodness =)

* * *

Sakura : GOD Naruto, do you have to be such a baby ALL the time. Forget the ramen coupons, you have a MUCH better gift, and that's the damn girl of your dreams. Wait to see what YOUR gift has for you for Christmas. (Looking at Naruto with bedroom eyes)

INNER-SAKURA :** HELL YEAH! Forget about tomorrow, let put Tsunade's gift to good use NOW!**

Naruto : Maybe I should have give the Icha Icha serie to you instead of giving it to the exchange gift party.

Sakura : NARUTOOOOOO!

Naruto : I don't see why you complain. After what we did last night, you can't make me believe that you're not a tiny bit curious as to know what is in those books. Beside, I love that side of you very much hehe!

Sakura : FINE! You want to be that way then you can just forget about the coupons. To think that I would have given them to you if you would have behaved!

Naruto :(Sweating like mad) Did I ever told you that you have a big charming forehead and that I would love to kiss it now?

Sakura : That is so corny Naruto ( can't help but to blush herself) but I know that I wouldn't mind it.

Sakura closes her eyes with a dreamy expression as Naruto placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. A little moment after, Sakura, happy with the kiss, open her eyes only to see an empty space in front of her.

Sakura : WHAT THE..! WHERE ARE YOU NARUTO?

THEN, Sakura realize that something is missing in her hand...the ramen coupons.

Sakura : NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOO !

* * *

/e giggles. Thanks again for the mini story Serenity-chan :D

See you all tomorrow for the final part everyone!


	3. December 25

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Here's the final part! To quote the movie, _Despicable Me_, "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die! It's so fluffy!" Prepare yourself for Christmasy fluffiness :D

Before I start with the review thanking and what not... I posted a mini story by one of my wonderful reviewers, Serenity Namikaze, onto the end of chapter 2. I found it pretty amusing, and with her permission posted it. So go back and check it out for a quick laugh =)

As always, I appreciate the reviews/follows/favorites =)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: bankai777, Serenity Namikaze, Nani-Rez, Gold Testament, Cloud Ex-SOLDIER,Toasty Warrior, wind797, holydemon90, Gundam27, Blazing CobaltX

bankai777: There will not be a lemon scene. Lemons aren't my forte. I may eventually do a lemon sequel to this for Valentine's Day. MAYBE. We shall see...

Serenity Namikaze: I hate Twilight with a passion, sparkles and vampires don't mix... Just seemed to be a funny and random gift idea for a Sasuke who loves reading =P And you know Naruto, when ramen is involved he starts acting like a little 12 year old boy again! Glad you enjoyed the story so far and hopefully you enjoy the oh so fluffy conclusion! Thanks again for your mini story, it is now posted onto the end of chapter 2 :D

Nani-Rez: Thanks! :D I hope you enjoy the conclusion =)

Gold Testament: Hehe, glad you enjoyed it :D I had a lot of fun writing the gift exchanges!

Cloud Ex-SOLDIER: I dunno, Sasuke is the Kakashi of Team 7 when comparing Team 7 to Kakashi's genin team. Cool, calm, quiet, mysterious. Add in the Sasuke in this story's love of reading books (especially Icha Icha books) and I don't see it as that big of a stretch =) I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far and I hope you like the conclusion!

Toasty Warrior: Minor spoiler alert- Lots of fluffiness.

Echo Uchiha: -_- (anime smilie)

wind797: I was tempted to have Sakura take the panties... but I went with the ramen booklet as it was just too cute for me to pass up! Twilight was more of a random "lol, Sasuke likes Twilight. What's up with that?" kind of gift =P

holydemon90: Thanks! Oh, and speaking of fluffieness... /e looks down at the last chapter

Gundam27: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the conclusion =)

Blazing CobaltX: Thanks =)

And now,without further ado, the conclusion.

Please do enjoy "All I Want For Christmas- Dec 25"

* * *

Sakura slowly stirred with a smile present on her face. She lazily lifted her head off Naruto's chest to see if he was awake yet, but he was not. _God he looks so cute when he sleeps._ Her warm smile didn't leave her face as she once again laid her head back down on his chest, tightening the embrace she had him wrapped in. He subconsciously tightened his hold on her in response.

This was all still a little hard to believe for Sakura. Three days ago she had not seen or talked to the baka for two long years, yet here she was, in his bed holding him tight on Christmas morning. _Looks like my Christmas wish came true._ She thought as she closed her eyes and listened to his calm heartbeat. It was so soothing.

"Ramen..no Chouji… That's my ramen. You can't have it, I'm hokage and the ramen is all mine…" Naruto muttered in his sleep, causing his girlfriend to giggle. _Leave it to Naruto to dream about ramen…_

"What? Sakura-chan? No! Of course I love you more than ramen. Ramen's great, but it's not even close to being in your league, believe it!" Sakura turned her head so she could smile at her baka. _Even in his sleep he's sweet._

"No Sakura-chan I'm not lying. Here, you can have the ramen. I don't need it. I'll give ramen up if that's what it takes!" Naruto continued mumbling.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore, and gently pressed her lips into his. Still asleep Naruto returned the kiss, before realizing what exactly was going on, his sapphire eyes shot open with a look of pleasant surprise. Sakura broke the kiss.

"Merry Christmas Naruto."

"Merry Christmas Sakura-chan! That was the best way I've ever woken up!" he said shooting her a foxy grin.

"Consider it one of your Christmas gifts then."

The two returned to cuddling, enjoying the warmth the other provided, neither really wanting to get out of bed.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Thanks for not giving up on me. Having you here like this… that's the best Christmas present I could ever ask for. I'm…"

He was cut off by Sakura attacking his lips, this time their tongues waged war and after minutes of furious kissing they both pulled back gasping.

"You were more than worth the wait Naruto." The pink-haired girl said softly before resuming cuddling with her happy boyfriend.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto stayed in bed for a good two hours before reluctantly dragging themselves out. Surprisingly, it was Naruto who convinced Sakura to get up.

"I have to give you your gift Sakura-chan, you're going to love it!"

"Fine, let's get up then. But I need a shower, I'm not going to do Christmas with you when I'm looking like this!"

"Looking like what? Sakura-chan you look amazing!"

"That's sweet Naruto. But my hair's a mess and greasy, I have gunk in my eyes, and my morning breath isn't exactly the greatest right now…"

"Sakura-chan it's impossible for you to NOT look amazing. You are the most beautiful woman in the world, whether or not you just woke up."

Sakura melted at the compliment, and rewarded Naruto for his sweet words with another kiss. "Fine, so I'm "beautiful" right now," Sakura said making sure to use finger quotations when she said the word beautiful. "But I still want a shower. I feel gross!"

"Ok Sakura-chan. I'll make breakfast then!"

She simply nodded with a smile and went off to his bathroom. Stripping from her underwear she got in the shower, loving the feel of the warm water on her skin, before a thought came into her head.

"Naruto!" No response. "NARUTO!" Still no response. _Jeeze, his apartment is small, he should be able to hear me…_ Sakura jumped out of the shower, quickly toweling off before wrapping the towel around her body and walking out into the kitchen.

Naruto tried his best to feign surprise when he saw her walk in, but he had heard her, and he knew what she was going to say. So he decided to play dumb and act like he never heard her.

"No ramen for breakfast!" She snapped with a playful smile on her face.

"But Sakura-chaaaan, it's closer to lunch time than breakfast time anyways…"

"NO RAMEN!"

"…Fine Sakura-chan." The blonde grumbled muttering something about his dreams. Satisfied, Sakura returned to the shower. 20 minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, wearing one of Naruto's orange robes, which was a little big on her, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

She was pleasantly surprised when Naruto greeted her with eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, pancakes and waffles; she had half expected ramen still.

"How… did you do all of this in such a short amount of time?" She asked. Her boyfriend just smirked at her.

"Kage-bunshins!"

The couple leaned against each other as they enjoyed their Christmas breakfast.

"That was delicious Naruto! I'm stuffed! I never knew you were such a good cook!"

"Well… breakfast food is really easy to make Sakura-chan." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "And besides, when you live by yourself all your life you just sorta pick up cooking."

"Speaking of that…" Sakura said shyly. "I know we've only been officially dating for 2 days now… But I was wondering about something."

"Wondering about what Sakura-chan?" the blonde clearly had no clue where this was going.

"I know you like this apartment and all, but it's so small. Why don't you move in with me? I have plenty of room..."

"You're asking me to move in with you?" Naruto sputtered.

"What's so hard to believe about that? I love you and I want to be with you. Don't tell me you still think this is a dream or…"

Naruto waved his hands in front of her. "No, it's nothing like that Sakura-chan! I just… I don't know. This is just like out of one of my dreams. I'm just a little surprised that's all…"

"You still haven't given me a response baka."

"Of course I will Sakura-chan!" Naruto was rewarded with one of his girlfriend's beautiful smiles, before he thanked her with a kiss.

"Want to open presents now?" The excited blonde asked.

"I don't have yours with me. Let's do presents at **our** place."

Both boyfriend and girlfriend's smile widened at the mention of "our" place.

"Ok! Let me just grab your present then we can go!"

* * *

Naruto and Sakura sat on the couch in Saku…their living room, heads leaning together and one arm around each other.

"You first Naruto." Sakura said handing him a small package wrapped in orange wrapping paper with bowls of ramen on it.

Naruto carefully unwrapped the paper, and stared at a small black box with Naruto written on it in kanji. He removed the lid and gasped.

"That's… that's just like..."

Naruto stared down at a rope necklace, just like the one Tsunade gave him that was destroyed in his fight with Pain. Well, not exactly like it. The two metal studs on either side of the gem were a sapphire blue, and the gem itself was pink, perfectly matching Sakura's hair.

"Sakura-chan… this is..." tears formed in Naruto's eyes. He remembered mentioning it briefly to Sakura once after the fight with Pain how much he missed the necklace. "I can't believe…" Naruto was struggling to find words.

She shushed him with a finger to his lips, and took the necklace from his hand and put it around his neck. It just felt so right to Naruto, feeling the necklace hanging on his neck and laying on his chest.

"Where did you find this? It's… perfect."

"I made it! After you told me you missed your necklace, I went and asked Tsunade-shishou if she knew where her grandfather had gotten his necklace. She told me about a jeweler in the hidden waterfall village, and after he told me what to do I started making it."

"Thank you Sakura-chan, thank you so much." Naruto said as he kissed his girlfriend.

"I'm glad you like it! Now it's my turn, ne?" Naruto responded by giving her a curious look, and giving her his full and undivided attention while handing her a small box wrapped in white paper with cherry blossoms on it.

She began unwrapping and was a little curious as to why Naruto slipped from her embrace, but was too distracted by a small black box to notice. Naruto at this point, had gotten on one knee in front of Sakura, and had her hand in his, as he opened the lid. Tears began pooling in Sakura's eyes.

"Sakura-chan… I know we've only been dating for a short time. But I've always loved you, and I always will. So Sakura Haruno… will you marry me?"

"YES, OF COURSE NARUTO!" she yelled as she pounced on him and began furiously kissing him, tears falling from her eyes. She looked at Naruto's face and her entire heart was warmed when she saw his face was tugged into the largest and happiest grin she had ever seen.

"As much as I enjoy this Sakura-chan, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to put the ring on you." Sakura giggled and got off her boyfriend as she examined the ring.

It had a gold band with cherry blossoms imprinted into it, and housed a large flawless diamond that was surrounded by alternating emeralds and sapphires. She noticed there were some sort of strange markings on the inside of the band, looking closer she could see, "I'll love you forever, promise of a lifetime." Written in a strange calligraphy… It sort of looked like a weird looking seal.

"What's that Naruto?" she asked as she pointed to the inside of the ring. Naruto grinned at her proudly.

"I modified my father's seal." Sakura gasped. "So now you won't need to carry around that bulky kunai, I can flash to you instantly whenever you're wearing this ring. And if you ever want to see me, all you have to do is pump a little bit of chakra into the seal and I will know that you're calling. Now you never have to be alone and I can always protect you."

Fresh tears spilled from her eyes, "Oh Naruto…" she wrapped her boyfriend…fiancé in a tight embrace.

"Sakura-chan, I still haven't put the ring on your finger…"

Sakura snapped back and held her hand out to Naruto with an excited smile on her face. She nearly squealed with joy as he slipped the beautiful ring onto her finger, officially binding the two together.

Now that Naruto had finally put the ring back onto her finger, Sakura was free to get back to what she was doing earlier. She once again pounced on Naruto and claimed his lips. After sharing their most passionate kiss thus far, they sat back, breathing heavily.

"I've always belonged to you Sakura. But now it's official. I'm yours, now and forever." The future hokage whispered.

Sakura leaned down into his ear and whispered, "And I'm yours, now and forever."

Sakura suddenly hoisted her fiancé off the ground using her chakra enhanced strength. A confused Naruto just stared at her wide-eyed as she hoisted him over her shoulder. His face was dangerously close to her butt, and Naruto started getting a nose bleed as he stared at her perfection.

"It's 1:00 right now, we don't have to be at my parents until 7:00, and they have one of your kunai there." Sakura said in seductive tone as she tossed her boyfriend onto the bed. "That gives us almost 6 full hours." Sakura then walked to their closet, while a still confused Naruto simply watched.

Sakura grabbed some sort of hidden box. "Now you just wait here Naruto-kun." The pinkette cooed before walking out of the room. A few minutes later, Sakura re-entered the bedroom. Naruto's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull and he couldn't stop himself from drooling a little.

_Looks like you were right shishou. WE will be getting some good use out of your gift after all._

"Sa… Sakura-chan… you're so…" Sakura leaned over, to give him a better view of her bosom as she waited for him to finish. "You're so gorgeous. You must be an angel, it's the only explanation!" Naruto stammered.

"Thanks Naruto-kun. You look pretty good yourself." Sakura lovingly replied, crawling toward him and capturing his attention with a seductive smile.

Naruto melted like putty under that smile. _This really is the best Christmas ever_…The lucky blonde thought.

* * *

Five hours and fifty-five minutes later, a freshly showered Naruto and Sakura sat cuddled together. Naruto was wearing a red sweater, with the Haruno symbol on the back in white, a pair of tan khacki pants, and a pair of brown dress shoes. His new necklace was hanging over the sweater of course.

His fiancé had unsealed the clothes from a scroll saying she bought them yesterday because he needed more nice clothes.

Sakura was wearing a red dress that matched Naruto's sweater perfectly, and she had a red Christmas bow tied in her hair. She was also proudly wearing her ring.

"We should probably get going, I don't think it would be a good idea to make my mom and dad wait on the day we tell them we're engaged." Sakura said softly.

Naruto's grin got bigger when he heard the word engaged. He still could hardly believe it.

"I sure was a baka wasn't I…" he muttered, not realizing he said it out loud.

His fiancé gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You sure were. And you still are. You've always been a baka and you always will be my baka. Now let's go!"

A pink and yellow blur left Sakura's apartment and instantly appeared in the Haruno household.

"Sakura, Naruto! You're just in time!" Kaori Haruno called out, hugging Naruto. As she hugged Sakura, she felt something a little strange touching her back. She pulled back from Sakura and gasped and grinned simultaneously.

"Sakura, is this what I think it is?"

"Yep! Naruto and I are officially engaged!"

"NANI?" Makoto Haruno gasped as he greeted the couple. He grabbed Sakura's hand and whistled. "Dang Naruto. Looks you know how to spoil my little girl!"

The future hokage smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm so happy for the two of you! Congratulations!" Kaori said hugging both of them once again.

"So… when am I getting grandchildren?"

WHAM WHAM!

Both mother and daughter stood over the Haruno patriarch with annoyed looks on their faces, although Sakura's face was also tinted pink. Naruto was also blushing.

"What? I'm not getting any younger damnit! I want grandkids!"

WHAM WHAM!

"Well excuse me for asking!"

WHAM WHAM!

Naruto felt bad for his future father-in-law. He was now seeing where Sakura got her tendency to hit first, and ask questions later from as he stared at the huffing older Haruno woman.

"Ne, Haruno-san we'll…" Naruto gulped as Sakura faced him with a look that said 'if you egg him on I will kill you, revive you, kill you, revive you then beat you within an inch of your life.' "We'll get around to it when Sakura-chan is ready!" Naruto closed his eyes and prepared himself for a beating.

When none came he slowly peaked one eye open to see both Sakura and her mother giving him a warm smile.

"Fine just…" It was Sakura's father's turn to gulp as his wife fixed him with a glare that said 'drop it if you value your life in the slightest.' "Just focus on you two being happy for now. I'm sure you'll have children when you're both ready!" He sputtered hoping that appeased his wife.

Now both Haruno women were fixing their men with a soft smile.

_Whew_ both Naruto and Makato exhaled in relief.

* * *

Christmas dinner at the Haruno household consisted of succulent honey glaze ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, deviled eggs, rolls, salad (which at Sakura's "request" aka order, Naruto ate a lot of), and apple and cherry pie for desert.

The Harunos, and the soon to be Uzumaki's, pleasantly conversed as they ate, with Naruto boasting about his plans for becoming hokage. The elder Harunos were a little surprised when he became serious and actually told them his plans for strengthening the bonds between villages in hopes of stopping the chain of hatred that plagued the ninja world.

After dinner, they were all sitting in front of a roaring fire.

"Ok, it's time to open presents!" Sakura said excitedly. Her eyes widened and she turned towards Naruto with an embarrassed look on her angelic face. "CRAP! Naruto I forgot my parents' presents, can we flash back to our apartment real quick?"

"No need Sakura-chan." Naruto chuckled as he pulled out a small scroll and unsealed the presents. Sakura noticed two presents marked, "To: Kaori" and "To: Makato" on them. She smiled. _He even got my parents something, even though he only had part of a day to go shopping._

Sakura tore into her presents and was now the thrilled owner of a new pair of black battle gloves, a new pair of boots, and a new winter coat that looked a lot like her normal red dress she used to wear as a genin in pea coat form.

To Naruto and Sakura's surprise, Sakura's mother had made him a cloak that was orange with black flames at the bottom. It had the kanji for Uzumaki on its back, also in black.

"How did you make this in a matter of 2 days mom?"

"I didn't. I've had this made for a while. I remember how Naruto used to look at you when you two were growing up, and I could see that you weren't giving up on him, so I figured it was only a matter of time before the two of you got together."

"Thank you so much Haru…Kaori!" Naruto said as he hugged the woman.

"Ne, Naruto, you missed one." Said Sakura's father handing him a bag. "I didn't have time to wrap it."

Naruto gasped as he pulled two beautiful long daggers out of the bag. Both had golden hilts and pure white blades. One dagger had cherry blossoms imprinted in the hilt, while the other had a kitsune.

"These are amazing! How did you…"

"A friend of mine is a master weaponsmith, and he owed me a favor. I heard from the village that your element is wind, which I'm told is good for close ranged fighting. So I figured if you were going to be the one officially protecting my little girl it wouldn't hurt for you to have two of the finest chakra blades in all of fire country!"

Happy tears were falling down the smiling face of Naruto as he hugged Sakura's father. "Thank you so much Makato. I will put these to good use."

The only gifts left wrapped were the ones from Naruto to Sakura's parents. Both Harunos opened their gifts at the same time, and it was their turn to gasp as they stared down at beautiful, ornate, three-pronged kunais.

"Since you two aren't ninja and can't mold chakra, I couldn't put this seal on anything else. But if you ever need me, all you have to do is throw these kunai and I will be alerted immediately. You two are now my family, and I will always be there to protect my family."

Tears streamed down the faces of the two Haruno women, while Sakura's father looked at Naruto with a shocked, touched and proud expression.

"Thank you… son" Makoto thanked.

Kaori elected to hug Naruto instead of saying anything, which Sakura joined in on.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto were back home after spending another hour conversing with her parents. They were wrapped together on the couch, watching a Christmas movie.

"That was really sweet Naruto. Thank you... this has been the best Christmas I've ever had." Sakura said softly, turning to face her fiancé.

"I meant every word Sakura-chan. You're my family, and your parents are my family; I will protect you all with every ounce of strength I have." Naruto's strong words filled Sakura with a sense of warmth and security.

"It's not like I need protecting you know, I'm pretty strong myself!"

"I know you are. But I also know you secretly like it when I come to the rescue." The future hokage teased.

"Shut it…" Sakura growled with a smile tugging at her lips.

A knock on the door interrupted any further teasing. Sighing, Naruto stood up and got the door.

"Baa-chan?"

"Hey brat, let me in. I've come to give you your present." Tsunade said brashly walking past Naruto, while Shizune and Iruka apologized for her.

Naruto motioned for the parents-to-be to come in.

"Naruto, I have two presents for you this year." Naruto looked at the hokage curiously, she didn't have any presents on her.

"Well… actually the second present is for both of you." She said as Sakura now fixed her master with a look similar to Naruto's.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I hereby declare you Rokudaime Hokage! Your coronation will be tomorrow night at 7, don't be late."

"THAT'S GREAT! CONGRATULATIONS NARUTO!" yelled Sakura wrapping her arms around her fiancé with a large smile. Naruto for his part, just stood there dumbfounded. He knew he was going to be hokage soon, but now that he was here… it just felt so surreal.

"And now for your second gift. I've chosen your assistant. She's a real firecracker. I'm sure she'll be able to…"

"SHE?" Sakura interrupted with a venomous voice and shooting Tsunade a glare that said, 'I don't care if you trained me, I will beat you within an inch of your life for this betrayal!'

"Yes, SHE Sakura." Tsunade continued unfazed by the non-verbal threat. "She will be able to keep you in line Naruto, and with her by your side I'm sure you'll be the greatest hokage to ever live. Your assistant…"

Sakura was fuming. _How dare shishou find some hussy to be Naruto's assistant. And then she has the gall to say that he'll be the greatest Hokage ever with that tramp by his side? NO WAY. He'll be the greatest Hokage with ME by his side SHANAROO!_

"Is going to be Sakura Haruno, although judging by that ring on her finger, she'll be Sakura Uzumaki soon."

Naruto and Sakura had completely opposite reactions.

_Sakura-chan is going to be my assistant? Crap! She's not going to let me get out of paperwork… And she can always figure out whether or not I'm a kage-bunshin. AND I've already told her most of my plans to get out of paperwork. CRAP!_

_I'm the woman who's going to help make Naruto the greatest Hokage ever? DAMN RIGHT I AM! WITH ME BEHIND HIM NARUTO WILL GO DOWN AS THE HOKAGE WHO NEVER ONCE SLACKED OFF! SHANAROO!_

Future husband and wife looked at each other with a smile. Naruto was actually quite happy, sure he was now doomed to a life filled with mountains of paperwork and no possible escape, but his Sakura would always be there by his side, so it was all worth it.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama…" they both said softly.

Tsunade nodded happily at the couple. Iruka was beaming with pride, and Shizune stood back watching the scene with a smile. Suddenly there was a soft knocking on the door. Before anyone could get to the door, Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai walked into the apartment.

"Oh it looks like we're a little late. Sorry, I got lost on the…"

"You got distracted by the adult section of the book store Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke grunted.

"I didn't hear you complaining Sasuke, and I seem to remember you purchasing the newest Icha Icha book that came out today."

Sakura shot Naruto a death glare. Naruto in turn shot Kakashi a death glare of his own. Catching Naruto's glare, Kakashi realized his mistake.

"Oh… right. Sorry about that Naruto. Well, since I've already gotten you in trouble, let me just say that the book is fantastic, and I dare say you are even better than Jiraiya was. And that's quite the compliment."

This set Sakura over the edge. "NA-RU-TO! YOU ERO-BAKA!" She growled as she stalked towards her fiancé, cracking her knuckles fully intending to pound his pervy'ness right out of him.

"Wait Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded. "Look at it this way, if the book is good, then I will get more money from its sales, which I will DEFINITELY use to buy you new stuff like jewelry and shoes!" Sakura stopped, and had a thoughtful look on her face.

"I never thought about it like that… Fine. But if I EVER find out you're using that money for something else, or if I ever find you writing that stuff again…" Sakura cracked her knuckles to get her threat across.

"I will never write anything like that again Sakura-chan, that's a promise!" Naruto replied as relief flooded through his entire body. _Whew, I thought I was a goner there for a minute. _

Everyone in the room started laughing. "Well, it's Christmas, Naruto and Sakura just got engaged, and Naruto's the new hokage. There's only one place to celebrate. TO THE BAR!" Tsunade yelled excitedly.

Everyone else in the room just stared at her with a sweat drop. The sannin however turned a glare upon them. "Don't forget I'm still the hokage until 7 tomorrow night. Now everyone, to the bar!"

Naruto, Sakura, Iruka, Shizune, Sasuke, and Sai all followed their Hokage with a chuckle to an impromptu Christmas party.

* * *

The impromptu Christmas party had been going on for an hour. Tsunade, Iruka, Kakashi and surprisingly both Sasuke and Sai were well on their way to getting drunk. Sakura and Naruto didn't want to get too drunk, because they wanted to be able to remember their entire day.

"I knew *hic* from the first time I saw you Narutooo, you were definitely going to be hokage!" Tsunade drunkenly stammered.

"Baa-chan… you said I was the weakest and dumbest of all Jiraiya's apprentices, goaded me into a fight where I stood no chance, then called me a silly kid who has a joke of a dream to become Hokage…" Naruto pointed out which got a chuckle out of everyone in the bar.

"Well… *hic* I meant afterrrr that of course. After that I knew you were going to be hokage…" Tsunade replied with a drunken grin. "Now you, me, drinking contest NOW! Godaime vs. Rokudaime!"

"Baa-chan, I already told you I'm not drinking much tonight. This is a big day for me and Sakura-chan and I want to remember every single detail." Naruto replied, which earned him a soft smile and a kiss on the cheek from his fiancé/assistant.

"Tch, I win then! Victoryyy for the Godaime Hokage!" Tsunade boasted.

"Tsunade-sama… you might want to slow down a little." Shizune cautioned with a worried voice.

"Nonsense! Alright, I'm 1 and 0. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sai… you three vs. me!" The drunken Hokage ordered.

* * *

An hour later, the bar was getting ready to close and Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sai were passed out while Tsunade was drunkenly boasting that she was the greatest hokage ever. Naruto summoned kage bunshins to take all the drunkards home.

Shizune made Iruka slow down so he was alert enough to make it home with her assistance. Naruto snaked his arm around Sakura's waist and the two began walking towards their apartment.

"I'm not really tired, and I don't want this day to end yet. Want to go for a night stroll?" Sakura asked in a hopeful tone.

"Of course Sakura-chan." Naruto shot his fiancé a smile and pulled her tighter against him. The husband and wife to be started walking towards Naruto's favorite spot in the entire village, the Hokage monument.

The two walked in pleasant silence, reveling in the warmth the other was emitting.

"I can't believe this is all real." Naruto's soft voice rang out, breaking the silence. Sakura's loving emerald eyes caught his as she gave him a soft smile.

"I've always said I was going to be hokage someday, but there were times when I began to doubt it. And I never thought that I would have your love. And yet here I am, I've achieved both of my most precious dreams…"

"I've known for a long time that you would achieve all of your dreams Naruto." Sakura replied in a matching soft voice, before giving her fiancé a quick kiss on the lips.

"I honestly don't think I could've gotten here without you Sakura… You motivated me to become stronger, and you motivated me to keep fighting. Thank you Sakura-chan. Thank you for having faith in me."

"Anytime Naruto-kun…" Sakura whispered, as she kissed her fiancé's cheek for the hundredth time that day. Naruto began slowly moving his lips to hers, but just before their lips could connect, Naruto pulled back with an annoyed look on his face.

"Damn Baa-chan… She just destroyed the kage bunshin that was taking her home…" Naruto groaned.

Sakura giggled. "Well we better go get her before something happens to shishou during her last night as hokage!"

"Ya… I guess." Naruto replied, before he picked Sakura up, and began carrying her bridal style.

"Naruto, what are you doing? I can walk!" Sakura huffed.

"I know Sakura-chan… But I can move faster than you, and we should get to Baa-chan fast."

"Fine… but don't make this a habit." Sakura ordered as she wrapped her arms around her fiancé's neck and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Naruto took off sprinting in the direction where his clone was forcibly dispelled. His body shivering in delight each time he felt Sakura's warm breath exhale on his neck.

Sakura suddenly found herself starting to doze off. _I don't want to go to sleep yet… Today was so perfect… But this is pretty comfortable…_ Sakura thought as she fell asleep in Naruto's arms. Just before she fell asleep she felt Naruto's lips softly brush against her forehead.

Naruto smiled at the sleeping pink-haired woman asleep in his arms. Words just could not describe how happy the Yondaime's son was at the moment. He finally spotted Tsunade, and managed to form the familiar cross seal even with Sakura in his arms.

"Kage bunshin no-jutsu." Naruto whispered. Tsunade had completely passed out. The clone picked the Godaime up, and it and Naruto walked to Tsunade's residence. The duo managed to make it to the Hokage's residence without any further troubles, and after clone Naruto layed the last sannin in her bed, it dispelled itself, and Naruto slowly began walking back to his and Sakura's apartment.

_I could easily hirashin back, but it's so nice having Sakura asleep in my arms like this…_ The soon to be Hokage walked silently for 10 minutes until he reached their apartment. As he opened the door, the pink-haired goddess in his arms stirred awake.

Bleary emerald eyes looked into his stunning sapphire eyes with a happy smile on her face. "Home already?"

"Ya. Baa-chan was passed out in the street, but she's in her own bed now."

Sakura kissed her fiancé's neck, sending a warm feeling throughout Naruto's entire body. "I think we should get in our own bed as well."

* * *

Naruto and Sakura lay in bad, softly smiling and staring into each others' eyes.

"Merry Christmas Naruto-kun."

"Merry Christmas Sakura-chan."

The Hokage and his assistant snuggled together and drifted off into a peaceful slumber. Both thinking,

_This was the best Christmas ever._

_

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Annnnnd fin! Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you enjoyed this little story. Please review and let me know your thoughts on this chapter/the story as a whole! Thanks again for reading and may your day be filled with family, friends, presents and wonderfully delicious food :D To those of you not celebrating Christmas, Happy Holidays and may your holiday be filled with the same good stuff!

Until the next story!

-NaruDeeds

Update- I made a New Year's one shot sequel titled, "The Sakura Ball." Follow the link on my profile page!


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